


Waning Gibbous

by sunnivaixchel



Category: Camp Camp (Web Series)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Vampire, Big Gay Crush, Body Horror, Cognitive Dissonance, David is a twink, Emetophobia, M/M, Masturbation, Mind Control, Mind Manipulation, Moon Phases, Pedophilia mention, Slow Build, Slow Burn, Transformation, Vampire Bites, Vampires, Werewolves, alternate vampire rules, major major guilt, new moon
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-11-28
Updated: 2018-01-28
Packaged: 2019-02-07 23:43:51
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Underage
Chapters: 10
Words: 26,464
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12852069
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sunnivaixchel/pseuds/sunnivaixchel
Summary: David's late-night walks have never been an issue until he starts having midnight rendezvouses that he can't quite remember, leaving him with sensitive red marks he can't help but touch. Could this have anything to do with the fact that Max seems even surlier than normal?





	1. Chapter 1

It was close to two in the morning and everything was quiet and peaceful in Camp Campbell. An owl hooted in the distance as David strolled leisurely down the familiar pathways of the camp. His insomnia was really acting up again. He couldn’t stay asleep more than a few hours at a time. At least it gave him a chance to walk around the camp, alone and unbothered. As he walked up the path to the lake, he caught movement out of the corner of his eye and stopped. The shadowed figure of a child was pacing aggressively by the docks, about fifty feet away from him. As he opened his mouth to call out to the camper, who shouldn’t be out of their tent at this hour, the figure suddenly froze, head snapping around to look at him, and the sound died in his throat at the sight of the small figure’s glowing red eyes, just pinpricks of light from this distance. He didn’t even see it start moving before it was right in front of him, and he jerked back with a cry of surprise.

“Max?” he said, voice shaky, that mop of kinky hair and slouched posture very recognizable at this distance. His eyes met Max’s, and he tensed up slightly. They were glowing bright red. How were his eyes glowing like that? Was that even possible? How...?

The rest of that thought just wouldn’t seem to come, and he vaguely realized that he couldn’t break eye contact with the boy, and that that should probably alarm him, but he couldn’t bring himself to be concerned. All of his thoughts seemed to be slipping out of his grasp, like papers in the wind, always just out of reach. The rest of his thoughts blew away, leaving him alone and in silence, still staring at those red, red eyes. The tension in his shoulders drained away slowly, and his arms dropped down to his sides, face going slack. Max made a low noise of annoyance that David heard but didn’t register.

“You’ll do, I guess,” Max said sourly, and his words went in one ear and out the other. Max finally broke eye contact, and David blinked a few times. He didn’t react when Max grabbed him by his neckerchief and yanked him down, or do anything more than moan softly and blink when his knees buckled and painfully hit the ground. Max fumbled with the knot of his scarf, yanking it off, revealing his long, pale neck. David’s arms continued to hang at his sides, fingers twitching. His body jerked and he cried out when something sharp stabbed into his neck, and then it felt like he was floating. He moaned, long and low in his throat, but did nothing else, body tingling deliciously, head spinning. He heard-

 

“David. David!” David jerked awake to the sound of Gwen pounding on his door.

“Whhah?” he slurred.

“Get up. It’s time for breakfast, and I’m not dealing with these gremlins by myself,” she said. Breakfast? Already?

“I’m, I’m, I’mmup,” David rolled out of bed and hit the floor with a ‘thud’, “Oww,” he said quietly.

“David!”

“I’m coming!” he groaned, pushing himself up, stumbling. He felt really weak and light-headed. He smoothed his clothes down, almost running into the doorframe when he went to leave the cabin. He’d had really strange dreams. What had they been about? They were already fading from his mind. He shook his head and went to breakfast.

 

* * *

 

David felt a lot better after he ate, and the strange dreams of the night seemed very unimportant now. He was leading a first aid activity, explaining how to use a tourniquet, when he noticed that there was a lot more whispering than usual. He glanced up to find all the campers much more absorbed with him than with what he was trying to teach them (except Max, obviously, who was staring off into the distance, but David wasn’t sure why he’d even bothered to participate in this activity).

“Is something wrong?” he asked, smiling nervously. There was silence, then Nikki lifted her hand and pointed at him.

“Why do you have a hickey?” she asked, and David blinked twice, then heat crept into his cheeks as the children snickered.

“A-A hic- what?” he stammered, hand going to his neck, “I’m  _ sure _ I don’t have anything like that,” his ears were burning at the insinuation.

“Yes you do, it’s right there,” Nerris pointed.

“It’s- I’m sure it’s a bug bite, Nerris,” his fingers found what they were referring to, sliding over the small patch of skin, and his breath caught at the jolt of sensation he didn’t so much feel as remember, “I...it’s a bug bite,” he repeated, adjusting his scarf to try to cover the offending mark, “Now, let me show you how to tie a tourniquet,  _ again _ ,” he emphasized, and the mark wasn’t brought up for the rest of the activity.

(Max was unusually sullen for several hours afterwards)

* * *

  
  


After lunch, David stood in his cabin, inspecting the mark in the mirror. It  _ really _ looked like a hickey. Up close, he could even see the indentation of teeth (there were two identical marks, almost like holes, evenly spaced at the top of the mark. They were redder and more sensitive than the rest). David licked his lips, dragging his fingers over it again, shivering at the frisson of sensation that went through his body when he did.

“What are you?” he whispered, looking at it from different angles. When could he have gotten something like that? He didn’t have it yesterday, that was for sure. Nothing had happened last night. He’d gone out for one of his night time walks, he’d gone down to the lake, and then...then...

David’s brow furrowed. What had happened after that? ( ~~ “ _ No, not that way, back to your cabin...ugh, I take it back, you’re not better like this, you’re even stupider.” _ ~~ ) He’d been walking, he’d gone toward the lake, and then....why couldn’t he remember? David thought back to the strange dreams he couldn’t remember either. Everything after that point was so fuzzy. He met his own gaze in the mirror and found a tense, nervous man staring back. That wouldn’t do. He smiled at his reflection, which smiled back, but it didn’t look as cheerful as he’d hoped. His eyes went back to the bite, which was the only thing it could be. He touched it one more time, shivered, then put his scarf back on and went about the rest of his day.

* * *

  
  
  


He found himself walking again that night, as he did every night. He avoided the lake, though, walking whatever trail wouldn’t take him that way. He wasn’t sure what he was so nervous about or why his feet seemed determined to take him back to the lakeshore. His fingers kept finding their way back up to the bite on his neck, brushing over it with his fingertips, making him quiver. He felt kind of...needy, somehow, like he was really craving something, but he didn’t know what it was.

He went back to his cabin, but he couldn’t sleep at all, tossing and turning. He finally got up again. He went back out, stomach churning nervously. He needed to stop being ridiculous. There was nothing by the lake that would get him, no bogeyman in the dark. He was going to go there just to prove to himself that he was being foolish. Then he’d be able to sleep.

The lake was serene in the moonlight, and he walked out onto the dock, staring out. He sighed. He felt...disappointed, somehow. He didn’t know what he’d thought might be here, but it clearly wasn’t. He sighed again, staring down at his watery reflection. Two pinpricks of red light appeared behind his reflection and he whirled around with a gasp.

“Took you long enough,” Max said sourly. David clutched his chest.

“Max,” he said. Max was directly behind him. How had David not heard him approach across the creaky old dock? “What are you doing up?” he asked. Their eyes met, and David’s mind became very quiet, very quickly. Max held out his hand.

“Come on. You’re gonna fall in if I do it out here, and I’m not going in after you if you do,” he said. David’s hand reached out and took Max’s, and he let himself be led back along the dock, “I don’t trust you not to fall in like this either,” he told David. His own heavy steps made the old wood creak and groan, but Max’s steps made no sound. David’s brain noted this, but gave no commentary, and the thought quickly slid away without a trace as they stepped back onto the shore, “Turn around,” Max let go of his hand, “I’m not biting your neck and getting it noticed again. Everyone in camp thinks you have a fucking hickey now,” the boy groused. David obediently turned around, facing the lake again.

“...Max?” he asked  slowly, confused, but still calm.

“Shut up.” David obeyed. What Max was telling him just felt like what he was supposed to do. He felt small hands pull up his shirt in the back, “Fucking hickey,” Max mumbled, and David gasped, back arching, when fangs sank into his side, just below his ribs. He was floating, and he was sure he’d felt this way before. He moaned again, eyes falling shut. He didn’t know how much time passed before it was suddenly over, and a warm, sticky tongue was dragging over the bite, “I guess this is a thing now,” Max said, voice quiet, “I’m not involving anyone else in this. This is already fucked up as it is,” David felt a little light-headed, but he was more interested in the sound of Max’s voice than the bloodloss he was only vaguely aware of. He stumbled a little as he turned back around to face Max. Max had blood smeared on his chin. David had the urge to reach out and wipe it away, but his body didn’t want to move, “Do you need me to take you back to your cabin again?” Max asked dryly. David barely heard him, lost in those red, red eyes, “Ugh, come on. Moron,” Max said, voice just a little bit fond.

* * *

  
  


David found the mark by accident when he was showering the next day. His fingers slid over it and he let out an audible yelp. Back in his cabin, he inspected it in the mirror before he got dressed. It was identical to the other one. He looked at both of them and shuddered. He remembered everything the night before up until he’d walked out onto the dock. What was out there that was doing this to him? Should he keep the kids away from the lake?

‘ _ Whatever it is hasn’t hurt you. All it does is bite you _ ,’ a reasonable little voice said. David bit his lip, slowly redressing.  _ Was _ that all that happened? He felt like he knew  ~~ drinking your blood ~~ that something else was happening, but his brain didn’t want to tell him what it was. All he knew was that unless he tied himself to the bed, he was going back to the lake tonight.


	2. Chapter 2

He found the third bite easily. It was right next to the second one. He still felt nervous about it. That was natural, right? After all, he remembered nothing about what  ~~ glowing red eyes ~~ happened after he went to the lake. Actually...should he be  _ more _ concerned about this? That thought followed him through the day.

(Every time he saw Max, his stomach squirmed happily. He wasn’t sure why.)

That night, Neil was sick most of the night (something he’d eaten, for sure), and David stayed up with him. He couldn’t stop thinking about the lake, all night. He went through the next day feeling queasy (not something he’d eaten) and guilty. The dark clouds gathering did nothing for his mood.

(He caught Max watching him with an intense expression several times. Every time, David smiled and waved, and Max looked away, scowling.)

David’s energy was way down, and he could barely make the effort to do activities at all, much less with his usual pep.

The sky was dark and stormy that night, but it didn’t rain, so David went straight to the lake after the last of the campers were in their tents. Max was already waiting, standing at the end of the dock. David walked down the dock as if in a dream, until he was standing right behind Max. He could see his reflection over Max’s shoulder. It took him a few seconds to realize what was wrong with what he was seeing. His reflection looked normal (he looked really spaced out, but normal), but that was all he was seeing. His reflection showed him standing alone on the end of the dock. There was no trace of the boy standing in front of him, except for two circles of red light. For the first time since this started, David had a single moment of absolute, blazing clarity.

~~ Vampire ~~

~~**Vampire** ~~

**VAMPIRE**

David’s entire body froze up, and it felt like his heart was going to pound out of his chest. Vampire. Max was a vampire. Max turned and faced him. Their eyes met and all of David’s cares melted away.

“Hi....Max....” he smiled slowly, shoulders sagging. Max scowled at him, but took him by the hand and led him up the dock.

* * *

  
  


It rained most of the next day and was storming by nightfall. David sat in his cabin after dark, fingers moving over the bites as he guiltily masturbated, thinking about glowing red eyes he could only half-remember. His socked toes curled against the wood floor of the cabin as he groaned and gasped, biting at the pillow to keep quiet. There was a name on his lips, but he just couldn’t quite remember it. The storm rattled the windows.

“Mmmmmaaah,” he moaned into the pillow. There was that name, but it just wouldn’t come out. His socked feet slid over the floor as he tried to find purchase with them. He could remember teeth sinking into his skin and he gasped loudly at the memory. He was getting so close. He pumped faster, eyes squeezed shut, “Mmmaahh...mmmm.....Mmmmaaaaaah....aaxx... MAX!” he came with a muffled cry, collapsing on the bed. 

He’d just cried something out. What was it? He struggled to remember it, but it continued to elude him, slipping between his fingers. He laid there for several minutes, idly stroking his bites, before he sat up and cleaned himself up, zipping his shorts back up. He sighed heavily. It felt like he was losing his mind. Things happening that he couldn’t remember or think about, people he couldn’t put a name or face to haunting his every waking thought. What was happening to him? Maybe he could ask...

He rubbed his eyes, lifting his head. He jerked back with a cry of fear, hitting the wall behind his bed, at the sight of glowing red eyes outside his window, watching him. The eyes disappeared, but David continued to tremble, heart hammering as he clutched his chest. Then he jumped to his feet, slipping a little bit in his socks, and stumbled to the door, opening it. He was immediately blasted by wind and rain. A leaf hit him in the face, and he grabbed it, tossing it away.

“Wait!” he called into the storm, suddenly desperate. The storm was howling now (when had it gotten this bad? This had to be really unpleasant for the campers), and his voice was lost to the wind. He stared out into the darkness, stomach sinking. Were they gone? The thought made him queasy. He didn’t want them to leave. He wanted them to come in with him.  ~~ He wanted them to bite him again. ~~ “Hello?” the wind whipped his voice away again. He was getting pretty wet, just standing in the doorway. Just when David was about to give up and close the door, two pinpricks of red light appeared in the darkness, and his heart jumped happily, “Come in out of the rain!” he wasn’t sure if they could hear him over this mess, “You must be soaked!” the two lights started moving towards him. As they got closer, David could make out the small shape they belonged to. A camper. The implications of that hovered just out of reach, like the memories of their rendezvouses. David held out his hand. The slouched figure came into the light from inside the cabin, “Max? Come inside. We don’t want you getting sick, now do we?” David beckoned, smile a little strained, and Max silently obeyed, walking in and letting David close the door behind him.

He stood still and didn’t protest as David clucked over his drenched clothes, helping him out of them and putting him in one of David’s camp t-shirts, which came down just above the knee, and a pair of his boxers (campfire patterned). He sat silently on the edge of the bed as David toweled his hair dry and fussed over him.

“Going out in a storm like that. What were you thinking? Are you cold, do you need a blanket? I’ll get you a blanket,” David left off drying Max’s hair, standing up to get the extra blanket, but a small hand caught his wrist and he stopped. Max was staring at the floor, but had a vice-grip on his wrist, “Max?” David winced as Max’s sharp nails dug into his skin. He realized, for the first time, that Max’s nails were sharp. They weren’t always like that, were they? And his skin, it was duller and greyer than usual. These facts, like most of what was happening, just sat stagnant in David’s mind. He couldn’t think about any of what he was seeing beyond that he was seeing it. He understood, vaguely, that the things he was seeing meant something ( ~~the glowing eyes, the sharp~~ ~~ claws nails, the dull skin,  Max is the one who’s been biting you, David, WAKE UP! ~~ ) and that there was an inherent reason for these things, that there was a conclusion his brain should be coming to, but it just wouldn’t.

“You’re all wet too. Change,” Max said quietly, letting go of his wrist. There were red indentations left by his  claws fingernails.

“Okay,” David said, walking over to his dresser. Not once did it occur to him that he didn’t take orders from a ten-year-old. What Max was saying just seemed like what he ought to do. It did occur to him that Max was watching him change, and he felt Max’s gaze boring into his back as he shed his shirt. He was embarrassed that Max was watching, but it didn’t occur to him to stop or ask Max to look away. He stripped down to his boxers (s’mores patterned) and he pulled out his comfortable pants, putting them on, then put on another Camp Campbell t-shirt. He turned back around to find Max watching him very intensely with an unreadable expression. Those red, red eyes were still hypnotic, but he wasn’t losing himself to them tonight.

“Come here,” Max said quietly, and David obeyed without hesitation, kneeling down in front of where Max was sitting without a second thought. Max looked a little startled that David had knelt at his feet, but he didn’t say anything right away. David’s head was pretty empty as he stared placidly up at Max, waiting for him to speak. Observations of how cute Max was and feelings of pleasure at being in his presence drifted lazily around his head. Finally, Max spoke, “Do you...know what’s going on?” he asked, and their eyes met. David blinked a few times.

“Wh...What do you mean? You’re here with me in my cabin,” he said guilelessly. Max looked frustrated.

“No _ , dipshit _ , I meant....I meant....do you...all these nights...do you remember them?” he asked. David blinked a few more times.

“I...don’t understand,” he said slowly, chest tightening with apprehension. Had he done something wrong?

“Do you remember all the times we met by the lake?” Max was watching him closely.  Glowing eyes in the dark, like a predator.

“Y-Yes,” David nodded. He remembered going to the lake. He remembered....Max was there. Max was there? Of course, he knew that...didn’t he?

“Do you remember what happened?” Max asked, and David didn’t answer, but his fingers moved up to the mark on his neck, “You remember that?” Did he remember that? David felt like he did, but he wasn’t sure. He remembered something....but he wasn’t sure what he remembered.

“I...” David bit his lip, looking down at Max’s bare feet hanging over the side of the bed, “I think so,” he sounded even less certain than he felt.

“Look at me,” David immediately looked up. There were several emotions on Max’s face, but David couldn’t quite put his finger on any of them, “What am I?”

“A....camper?” David’s voice wavered uncertainly. He could tell that was the wrong answer, “A b-boy? A child? I...I don’t understand the question,” David could tell that Max was displeased with him, and it was awful. He wanted to cry.

“Look at me!” Max raised his voice, making David flinch, “Look at my eyes! My ears!” he pushed his damp hair back, revealing slightly pointed ears, “My claws!” he held up his sharp nails, “ _ These! _ ” he pulled his upper lip back, revealing intimidatingly long, sharp canines, “What am I?!” Max nearly shouted, and thunder crashed outside. David was sweating, eyes wide. Red eyes, pointed ears,  ~~ claws ~~ sharp nails,  ~~ fangs ~~ long, sharp teeth. He knew that these things meant something. They all added up to one logical conclusion.

“I....I....” David was clenching his fists so tightly that his knuckles had turned white, nails digging into his palm, “I...I...”

“Say it!” Max shouted.

“I...I’m tr-trying, Max,” David was on the verge of tears, partly from the frustration of trying to say a word that was on the tip of his tongue and partly because Max was upset with him, “I’m...trying to....to understand...” he whispered, visibly struggling, sweating even harder. Max stared at him, breathing heavily, then his shoulders sagged.

“You can’t, can you?” he whispered, turning away, “I’ve made you so you can’t,” his voice turned small and angry and miserable, “ _ Fuck _ ,” he whispered, and David had the slight urge to correct him, “You can’t remember what I’ve done, you can’t even think about what I am...you know, don’t you? You just...you can’t say it. You can’t even think it,” he looked back at David to find silent tears dripping down his cheeks, “This is my fault. I did this to you. The more you take my venom, the more under my power you are...they didn’t tell me this would happen,” he whispered, and suddenly, he looked like he was going to cry, “And you. You’re just...sitting there. Waiting for me to tell you what to do. You’ll do anything I tell you,” Max sniffed once, wiping his eyes roughly. He stopped when David reached out, pulling his arm down, wiping away Max’s tears with his thumbs, leaving his hands there to cup Max’s face. Max sat still, and his face scrunched up, “This is my fault,” he said again.

“It’s not your fault,” David assured him, “You didn’t know any of this would happen.”

“It’s still my fault,” Max pulled away from the gentle touch, and David let him, “Whatever. Just get up. I’m thirsty,” Max turned away, and David stood up, wobbling a little, “Take your shirt off,” for a moment, Max almost sounded bashful. David pulled his shirt over his head without question. Max stared up at him for several seconds, looking a little flustered, then stood up. He reached out, hand faltering, before placing it on David’s toned stomach. His hand was cool, but not cold. His hand trailed up to David’s left pec, and David shivered, cheeks flushed, and it spilled down his neck and up into his ears. His nipples were starting to get hard. Max spent several seconds just feeling him up with both hands, seeming fascinated and a little excited. David’s nipples were very hard now, and he bit his lip, trying not to make any noise and let Max do as he wanted. Max paused, flicking one of David’s nipples experimentally, snatching his hand back when David gasped loudly, back arching.

“M-Max, th-that....” he couldn’t finish his sentence. Max was staring at him with an expression he couldn’t read. The boy pointed at the floor, and David went back down to his knees. He had a very similar reaction again when Max’s fangs sank into his shoulder, and he quivered with pleasure as Max’s fingers tangled in his hair, holding him still. Then it was over, and Max was licking the bite. He pulled back. He had blood on his chin. David dreamily picked up his own discarded scarf, reaching out and wiping Max’s mouth like a small child. Max tensed up distrustfully, but didn’t pull away. When David pulled back, Max was wearing a strange expression. Max took a deep breath, reaching out and awkwardly patting David on the head a few times.

“Good...boy....David....” he said, looking self-conscious and a little surly about it. David perked up. Good boy! Him! He was a good boy! His face shone with pleasure, and Max seemed relieved that that had worked, and he patted David again, like a dog. He tensed up when David pressed up into the touch, rubbing against his hand like a cat. He sat still with his hand out, letting David nuzzle and rub his cheek against it. He rested his head in Max’s hand, opening his eyes, staring up at Max with an utterly smitten expression. It faded at the uncomfortable, guilty look on Max’s face.

“Mmm, Max?” David kissed Max’s small palm, and Max shivered. He was blushing now.

‘ _ That’s your blood, _ ’ a little voice whispered, and David didn’t know what to do with that information.

“I’m gonna change back,” Max said, “And I...I’m not sure what’s going to happen.”

“Change back?” David asked, but he hadn’t even finished speaking when Max suddenly looked like Max again; green eyes, amber skin, normal ears, no fangs. David blinked a few times, “Oh,” he said, nonplussed. Max was looking at him very intently.

“How do you feel?” he asked. David leaned against his hand again.

“Umm...about the sa-” he stopped, eyes widening, and he stayed frozen for several seconds, eyes fixed on a point behind Max, before he jerked away from Max’s touch, scrambling backwards, “Oh! Oh goodness! Oh no! Oh no, no, no, no, no,” his expression was one of horror now. Max’s expression dropped back into his usual sullen mask, but his eyes were hurt.

“Yeah. That’s what I thought,” he said in a low voice. David was hugging himself tightly, eyes flickering around, very much  _ not _ looking at Max.

“Oh no, no, no,” he whimpered, very red in the face, “What have I done? Oh gosh, what have I done?” he whispered. Max changed back into his vampire form, but David didn’t seem to notice, staring at the window he’d seen Max watching him through, “I was...and...and...and it was  _ Max _ ,” he whispered, having seemingly forgotten Max was even there, “All this time...” he let go of himself to grip his hair tightly. Then he let out a noise between a gasp and a yelp when he realized he was still shirtless, and he scrambled for his shirt, fumbling to put it back on, inside out.

“David,” Max said, standing right above the adult, and David let out an emasculating, high-pitched shriek that Max would have laughed at in a better mood, jerking back again.

“Max!” he said breathlessly, looking up at him, and Max felt his stomach twist unpleasantly when their eyes met and he watched the tension drain from David’s body, “Oh,” he said faintly, “Max...you’re crying.” Max sniffled.

“No I’m not. Shut up,” he gritted out.

“Okay,” David agreed, but he slowly picked his scarf back up, reaching up and gently wiping Max’s tears away. Max didn’t fight him on it.

“It’s not supposed to be like this,” he whispered, “This isn’t how thralls are supposed to be...” David continued to wipe his face as more tears leaked out of his eyes.

“I’m sure it’s my fault,” David murmured placatingly, eyes unfocused, and Max shoved him away, forgetting his own strength and knocking David back against the bed, “I’m sorry,” David said immediately, and Max’s fists were balled up at his sides.

“Shut up,” he said, face screwed up, “Just shut up. Put your fucking shirt on right,” David blinked a few times, then took his shirt off again, fumbling with it to pull it right side out, then put it back on, “Go to bed,” Max pointed, and David got up, wobbling, then climbed into his bed, “Move,” Max ordered, climbing in with him. He looked up to find their faces very close. There was a ring of amber in David’s green eyes, just around his pupils. Max blushed, “R-Roll over and go to sleep,” David obeyed, and within a few seconds, Max could hear him snoring softly. Max pulled the blanket over them, curling up against David’s back. It was...a nice back. He blushed more, sliding his hand under David’s shirt to feel of his back. David shivered and stirred, but didn’t wake up.

It always kind of threw Max for a loop whenever he was reminded that David wasn’t actually physically weak. Sure, he wasn’t beefy like Campbell was (or had been, more in his younger years), but David was trim and fit and while his muscles weren’t bulky, they were there. Max thought about all of the physical activities David did (or tried to do) with the campers. He wasn’t as twiggy as he looked. He was just a pushover...most of the time.

Max just felt of the muscles in David’s back. He....liked them. He liked this, being pressed up against David’s warm body. He didn’t really have words for these feelings, but he had a sneaking suspicion that this was sex stuff and sex feelings, which he didn’t know nearly as much about as he might pretend he did. He thought about watching David touch himself while stroking the bites, and blushed again with David’s blood. He couldn’t even really blame David for that; feeding was kind of a sex thing. Vampire venom made victims feel good, and he knew that a lot of vampires had sex with their thralls. The idea of doing that with David made him excited and uneasy.

He pressed his face against David’s back and inhaled. David smell. He shivered, then frowned, pulling his hands back and cuddling closer, shifting back to his day form. He closed his eyes. He’d call his parents in the morning. They’d know what was wrong with David....if he could get up with them, that was. Them answering wasn’t a guaranteed.

Max drifted off to sleep with the thought that it was a shame that Daniel was an apeshit crazy motherfucker. If he’d been less of a crazy piece of shit, Max could have learned a lot from him about being a vampire. Too bad he was probably dead.


	3. Chapter 3

David woke up when his alarm went off, turning over to swat at it, only to find a small, warm bundle between him and the alarm clock. His eyebrows drew together as he leaned over the bundle, which had the entire blanket, to turn off the alarm. The lump in the blankets shifted and grunted quietly, and David carefully peeled the blanket back to reveal thick, dark curls, which shifted around.

“Max?” David said, voice rough with sleep. When had Max gotten here? David struggled to remember the previous night. He glanced around the room, eyes alighting on Max’s clothes, which were hanging over the back of a chair. There was a small puddle on the floor underneath them. The storm...Max must have come in the middle of the night to sleep with him. David didn’t remember him being scared of storms, but... “Maaax,” David crooned softly, rubbing circles on the boy’s back through the blanket, “Time to wake up,” Max stirred again and made a really cute noise, “Wake up, buddy,” David took this rare chance to run his fingers through Max’s curls without fear of being bitten, perfectly willing to take advantage of Max’s sleepy docility. A small hand shot out of the blankets and grabbed his wrist.

“Dn’t fckn tch me,” Max mumbled. The sun was rising, and a chorus of birds sang loudly outside. Max groaned and rolled over as David carefully climbed over him. David stood and stretched, pausing when he caught Max watching him through a tiny gap in the blanket, and David beamed at him.

“Good morning, Max! Are you ready for another exciting day at Camp Campbell?” he asked, but without as much gusto as usual. Max grunted and retreated back under the blanket.

* * *

  
  


Max went off to call his parents mid-morning. He was gone for around twenty minutes, then came back, scowling heavily. He couldn’t get in touch with them. He did this several times throughout the day until he got in touch with them in the evening, while the others were showering. Subsequently, he and David were the last ones to the showers.

(David found the bite on his shoulder in the shower. He stood there for almost ten minutes, stroking the bites, mind completely empty as the cold water cascaded over his body. Everyone had noticed his recent lack of energy, but they hadn’t commented on it. David felt like he was going through life in a dream.)

Max was gone by the time he got out, but he didn’t think anything of it, checking on the campers (Max was  _ not _ in his cot), then heading back to his cabin. He opened the door to find Max sitting on his bed, waiting for him.

“Um, hi Max!” David said, cheerful but uncertain, “Did you need something?” Max said nothing, “You can’t sleep in here again tonight. Sorry, buddy,” David said. Max still didn’t respond, “Are you okay?” David blinked, and Max was standing right in front of him, eyes glowing red. David jerked back, “Whoa!” he hit the doorframe, “M-Max, how-?” his voice trailed off, and Max sighed, taking him by the hand and leading him over to the bed. David was soon sitting between Max’s knees, waiting to be told what to do.

“I talked to my parents,” Max said, stroking David’s hair as David rubbed happily against his hand, “Turns out I’ve been turning you into a ghoul by feeding on you too much. You’re not even a thrall yet,” David leaned against Max’s hand, nosing it, “I’m gonna make you a real thrall tonight...but first, we’re gonna try this again,” Max changed back, and David paused, looking disoriented, then he jerked back, eyes wide.

“Oh my gosh,” he said weakly.

“Don’t freak out again,” Max said in annoyance. David’s throat bobbed as he swallowed, and Max’s eyes followed the motion of that.

“Max...you...” David shuddered.

“You remember now, right?” Max played with the cuff of his sleeve. He glanced up to find David staring at him, eyes wide, cheeks red, “Right?” David nodded, like he didn’t trust his voice. His eyes were flickering as everything came back to him, “Good,” Max said quietly, “We have to talk like this until I figure out how to control my glamours in my night form,” David’s breathing hitched, but he said nothing, “Look, I’m...” Max scowled, staring at the floor, “This is your chance to run, okay? If you leave now, I go back to my tent and we never talk about this again and I find someone else.” There was silence between them, except for David’s shaky breathing. Slowly, David reached out and wrapped his hand around Max’s. Max cut his eyes at him. David was smiling, but it was a nervous, placating smile.

“M-Max, it’s...it’s okay,” he stammered slightly. Max resisted the urge to shift back into his night form. David was so much easier to read when you could hear his heartbeat and see the tiny changes in his body language, “I’m not going anywhere,” David continued, voice a little stronger. Max narrowed his eyes.

“Why?” he asked. David didn’t know how to answer that question, “You wanna be vampire food, camp man?” David winced, reaching out and taking Max’s hand in both of his.

“Max,” he said, then stopped, staring down at their hands. He was so pale compared to Max. David took a deep breath, “While you’re here...I’m responsible for your wellbeing. If this is what you need...then I’m more than willing to take on that responsibility,” he squeezed Max’s hand, giving him a tired smile. Max didn’t return the smile, “It’s a little different than my usual duties, but I think I’m up to the challenge!”

“No, you don’t...get it,” Max said, frustrated, “If we keep doing this, you’re gonna have to become my thrall,” David blinked, “A bloodslave, basically,” Max hunched his shoulders.

“Oh,” David said quietly, then: “Forever?”

“No, just until camp is over and I go home. But it...it’ll be really shitty for you for a while after I leave. You’ll go into withdrawal and it’ll just...it’ll suck major balls,” Max kicked his feet. David didn’t say anything immediately, “Plus it...it’ll just change everything, okay?” Max added, frustrated.

“Max...if...” David paused, “If it’s not me...it’ll have to be someone else, right? I mean...you can’t just...starve, right?” slowly, Max’s face went blank, and David got the sinking feeling that he’d just really fucked up somehow. He licked his lips, “I mean, what...what kind of counsellor would I be if I...if I didn’t provide you what you need and put it off on...someone else...?” his voice trailed off at the almost frighteningly cold look on Max’s face.

“Right. Of course. I get it now,” Max’s lip curled, “You’re gonna sacrifice yourself. You’re protecting everybody else from the big, bad vampire, right?” he said through his teeth, and David blanched.

“ _ No _ ! No, no, Max, no,” he forced his voice back down, “That’s not it at all. I’m just saying, it’s my responsibility to take care of you while you’re here,” but Max was obviously already angry and hurt, “Max-” David reached out, and Max slapped his hand away.

“Don’t fucking touch me!” Max growled, eyes  damp, “I’m a monster! I’ll tear you apart!” David sighed heavily, smiling tiredly.

“You’re not a monster, Max,” he said.

“How would you know?” Max snapped.

“I just do. Here,” David reached back to untie his scarf. They both jumped when there was a knock on the door.

“David?” Gwen’s mildly concerned (mildly annoyed) voice came through the door, “Everything alright?” Max had shifted and was at the door before David could open his mouth.

“ _ Max _ ,” he hissed, chest tightening when Max opened the door.

“Max? What are you....doing....here...?” Gwen’s voice trailed off as her face went slack.

“Gwen,” Max said flatly, “Everything’s fine. Go back to your cabin and don’t worry about it,” slowly, Gwen nodded, and turned, walking away, and David caught a glimpse of her vacant expression. Max shut the door, and David could see when he changed forms. He turned back and looked at David, who said nothing, heart lodged in his throat. David realized that, for the very first time, beyond the nervousness and disquiet and consternation he’d felt at various points during the previous week, he was actually a little bit scared of Max and should probably be  _ a lot _ scared. David had been so caught up in guilt and nerves and the realization that he’d been made to forget things and that one of his campers was a  _ vampire _ , that it hadn’t occurred to him to be scared for his own safety. Well, not when it came to Max. There was that moment last night when he’d realized that Max was the one biting him and that when he’d touched himself while touching the bites, it was actually  _ Max _ he was thinking of...not to mention that  _ Max _ had  _ seen _ that. David’s eyes flicked to the window, remembering those glowing red eyes, voyeuring as David touched himself. That realization had come with both the guilt and self-disgust of knowing he’d been thinking about one of his campers while masturbating, and the horror that that camper had  _ seen _ him do it, which immediately led into the somewhat irrational terror that everyone was going to find out what he’d done and he’d be branded as a pedophile and never allowed to work with kids again.

“David!” Max raised his voice slightly, and the counselor realized that Max had been saying his name.

“Y-Yes? S-S-Sorry, Max,” David stammered, face flushed. Max had successfully hidden his hurt feelings behind a surly expression, “J-Just....just give me a minute, alright? Th-this is a lot to take in,” David gripped the sides of his head tightly, squeezing his eyes shut, like he was trying to stop his skull from bursting open.

_ ‘You’re completely at his mercy.’ _

_ ‘Max won’t hurt you, not like that. He’s a sweet kid underneath all that anger. You’ve seen it.’ _

_ ‘How much of that anger do you have to go through to get to that sweet kid underneath, huh?’ _

_ ‘He’s a  _ vampire _ , Davey. He could tear you apart and you wouldn’t even be able to fight.’ _

_ ‘He was right. You have to protect Gwen and the other campers from him. It’s your duty.’ _

_ ‘No! It’s not about protecting them! It’s about taking care of him!’ _

_ ‘Sure, Davey, sure. Keep telling yourself that.’ _

_ ‘He won’t really hurt you. You know he won’t  _ really _ hurt you. He’s a little menace sometimes, but he’s not a bad kid.’ _

_ ‘So all those times he tried to kill you don’t count?’ _

_ ‘You know what I mean. That was before.’ _

_ ‘Maybe that’s true. Maybe he wouldn’t hurt you...on purpose.’ _

_ ‘Who knows? Maybe he wants to hurt you. He saw you touching yourself, whimpering his name. He probably thinks you’re disgusting, Davey.’ _

_ ‘No, that’s not your fault! You didn’t know!’ _

_ ‘It hardly matters at this point.’ _

_ ‘Come on, how different is this from the  _ other _ part of being a counselor here?’ _

_ ‘ _ Extremely _ different. This is a  _ vampire _. A  _ bloodsucker _. Not a bunch of rambunctious, overgrown-’ _

_ ‘Think fast, Davey. He’s standing right in front of you.’ _ David gasped, eyes snapping open to find the little vampire standing above him where he was hunched in on himself. They locked eyes, and David could see the hurt and vulnerability behind Max’s sullen expression. David closed his eyes, took a deep breath in, then let it out and opened his eyes, smiling.

“Okay, Max, let’s . . . talk about this,” he forced himself to relax his shoulders, “You need a, uh, blood thrall to feed on, and I, um . . . I have more than enough blood,” he added brightly. Max wasn’t looking at him, “I . . . I really don’t mind,” slowly, David reached back and untied his scarf, taking it off, then he shrugged off his vest, “T-Take as much as you need,” he silently cursed his nervous stutter. He didn’t need Max to think he was afraid of him. Okay, so maybe he was a  _ little bit _ afraid of Max, but the little vampire didn’t need to know that.

“Do you even know how thralls are made?” Max asked quietly. David hesitated.

“Well, uh, I’m sure you’re going to tell me,” his voice was a little too bright. Max scowled.

“We have to exchange blood,” he said. David opened his mouth, then closed it.

“Oh,” he said faintly. That sounded . . . intimate. “Well . . . th-that’s fine, I mean, if you’re fine with it.”

‘ _ Please bite me again, I’ll do anything _ ,’ the thought leapt unbidden to his mind, and his ears turned red. No, he couldn’t say that. That was out of the question.

“Whatever,” Max said, but he was clearly uneasy. David sat back on his heels, leaning against the side of the bed.

“What should I do?” he asked, tilting his head back slightly to reveal his throat, and he felt his breath audibly catch when Max’s eyes locked onto his throat.

“Do you have a knife?” Max asked, eyes never leaving the counselor’s pale throat. David hesitated, then lifted his hips to dig into his back pocket, pulling out a worn multi-tool, then sat back down and held it out to Max, who took it and changed forms, flipping out the knife and checking it. He grunted approvingly, closing it and putting it in his pocket.

“I, uh, I’m gonna need that back,” David said, and Max gave him a vaguely pitying look.

“Take your shirt off,” he said, and David flushed as he obeyed. Things were getting a little hazy, but he was more or less okay as long as he didn’t make prolonged eye contact with Max. He tensed up when Max crawled into his lap, straddling his knees. He looked down at the small, brown hands resting on his lightly tanned chest, then back up, and found Max’s face very close. At this distance, he couldn’t avoid those red eyes, and he felt all the tension leave his body. He saw Max open his mouth in his peripheral vision and saw his fangs extend. He had only a moment to be light-headed at the sight before those fangs sank into him, just below his collarbone, and everything faded into a haze of pleasure. His hands found their way into Max’s messy curls, fingers lazily carding through, and he felt Max sigh against his skin. He stroked Max’s hair as the little vampire continued to feed on him.

‘ _ This is better than sex _ !’ he thought distantly. He felt the strength leaving his body and barely noticed. Unaware that there was anything to be concerned about, David grew weaker and weaker as he lost more and more blood. He was barely conscious when Max pulled away with a gasp, licking the bite. His awareness faded in and out as Max pulled the knife back out and opened it, making a small incision on his wrist.

“Open,” Max said, and David obediently opened his mouth, like a child. His eyelashes fluttered when two fingers, smeared with black blood, pressed into his mouth. He moaned when the bitter flavor of it exploded on his tongue. The fingers pulled back, then returned with fresh blood. Max did this several times before licking the wound closed and wiping his hand on David’s shirt. David was swaying a little bit, and he sagged back against the bed, “Okay . . . ” Max sighed heavily, climbing out of David’s lap. He helped David into the bed, taking his boots off. David was almost immediately fast asleep. Max stood and stared at the sleeping human for almost a full minute. He wiped his eyes roughly, then turned around and let himself out. Tomorrow was the new moon. That would let him give David the night off.

For now, Max was just going to run the forest and try not to think about what he’d just done.

 


	4. Chapter 4

Max didn’t see David again until after breakfast. David had just finished telling Dolf something the boy was very excited to hear, and stood with his hands on his hips as he watched him run off. He turned, caught sight of Max, did a small double-take, and his entire face lit up. He waved cheerfully. Yep, David was back at full energy. No risk of him wasting away into the closest thing Max knew of to an  _ actual zombie _ . Max had dodged a bullet there. He didn’t have to worry about David starting to crave raw meat, but on the  _ other _ hand . . .

“Hiya, Max!” David bounded over, “Ready for another exciting day of fun at Camp Campbell?!” he enthused. Max grunted, but David wasn’t deterred, seeming even more excited, “What would you like to do today?” Max shrugged.

“Whatever you have planned, camp man,” he said, watching Nikki yell and punch a sad, lumpy sandbag.

“Nothing planned for today! All the campers are set up with activities for the day and Gwen’s keeping an eye on them.” Gwen was reclining in a wooden chair, reading a trashy magazine. “So we have the day to ourselves!” David beamed. Max’s stomach slowly sank, “What do you wanna do first?”

“Uhh,” Max cut his eyes in the opposite direction, where Neil was sitting and morosely listening to Space Neil ramble, then looked back at David, who was waiting expectantly for his reply, “Um,” he said ineloquently.

“Take your time. I know it’s a big decision,” David said happily. Max cut his eyes back towards Nikki, who was trying to pick up and suplex the sandbag, which was almost twice her size, then back to David. This was....not...ideal. But, really, Max shouldn’t have been surprised. He really, really, really should have expected something like this from David. He knew enough about thralls to have seen this coming.

“What’re my options?” Max scuffed his shoes uncomfortably. Not too long ago, he would have snidely requested to leave, but he’d made the conscious decision to ride the rest of the summer out in this shithole, and he couldn’t really back out of that now. Well, he  _ could _ , but . . .

“The sky’s the limit!”  David assured him, and Max grimaced.

“Well, uh...” Max shoved his hands into his hoodie pockets. ‘ _ Can you take off your shirt and let me feel your chest again? Because that was really awesome. _ ’ Max took a deep breath, “Can we, uh, go...swimming...?” he grimaced again. 

“Sure thing! Why don’t you go and get your swimsuit? I’ll meet you on the dock,” David jogged off in the opposite direction and Max sighed heavily, turning around and trudging towards his and Neil’s tent. His eyes were burning a little bit. This was his fault. There was no getting away from it, no pinning it on David or whoever else. This was on him.

He zipped up the tent and slowly changed into his swimming trunks. He guessed he might as well swim. He’d only suggested it so he could see David shirtless again. He grabbed his towel and unzipped the tent, trudging down towards the lake, still wearing his hoodie, but with his trunks on under it. What were people going to think? Not that he  _ cared _ , but it could spell big trouble for both of them if anyone else at Camp Campbell caught wind of their ‘arrangement’. Vampires had the benefit of being able to identify each other on sight. That weirdo Daniel had been the first person Max had ever seen and immediately known was a vampire. If Daniel had recognized that Max was a soon-to-be fledgeling, he hadn’t given Max any indication.

Whatever. The  _ point _ was that he was the only vampire here, meaning he had no allies. Except, well, David, who didn’t really count, since he didn’t have any choice in being Max’s ally. That little knot of guilt that had been in his chest since the previous night tightened.

He had no allies and had to figure out, on his own, how to explain to the rest of the camp why David was suddenly giving him special treatment. Because this was just the start. David would care more about Max than anything else, at least for now. Max came to an abrupt halt, just before he reached the treeline. He’d only seen David for a minute or so since last night. How different was David going to be? As a new thrall, he’d be utterly smitten with Max, but...would he stop caring about the other campers? About Camp Campbell itself? About Cameron Campbell, whom he idolized? The uncertainty of exactly what he’d done to David twisted his stomach into guilty knots. 

No.  _ No _ . He didn’t care. He  _ didn’t _ care. He was just doing what he had to do. David was just some human, and that’s what humans are for, right?

Right?

Right.

Max exited the trees, walking down towards the dock. David was waiting for him, sitting on the edge of the dock with his feet hanging into the water. He perked up when he saw Max, and waved excitedly. Max walked over, intending to sit down beside him, but David jumped to his feet, wobbling and almost falling into the water, before jogging to greet Max before he even reached the dock. Okay. Alright. So it was going to be like that. Fine.

“You ready, Camp Man?” Max asked.

“Absolutely!” David replied eagerly, bouncing on the balls of his feet. Max realized that while he was wearing most of his normal ensemble, he was wearing swimming trunks the same color as his counselor uniform shorts.. They were almost identical, except for the lack of a belt and that his shirt wasn’t tucked in. Max glanced back over his shoulder.

“So is anyone else joining us for, uh, Swimming Camp?” he asked, already knowing the answer. David’s face sort of froze in a smile.

“Nope! Just us, buddy!” he said. Max raised his eyebrows, but nodded, toeing off his sneakers, and David looked extremely relieved that Max wasn’t fighting him on this. Max took his socks off, stuffing them in his shoes, then took off his hoodie and t-shirt as one layer, tossing it onto the dock and walking to the end, staring into the water. He could see his reflection. He scoffed, very quietly, at the sight.

“Lucky me,” Max said, too softly to hear. He yelped loudly when he was scooped up under the arms and David threw them both off the end. Max flailed wildly as his head went under. He thrashed underwater for a few seconds before he was grabbed under the arms again, this time from the front, and he and David broke the surface of the water. David was holding onto the dock with one hand, balancing Max on his other hip, like a little kid.

“You know how to swim, right, Max?” he asked, grinning, cheeks flushed. Max coughed a few times, then puffed up in indignation.

“Yes!” he snapped, cheeks red. David gave him an entirely shameless grin.

“It’s alright if you can’t, buddy. I can teach you. I’m just not sure why you asked to go swimming if you don’t know how,” his grin suddenly faded. Their faces were very close together now, and Max was still sitting on David’s hip, a long arm wrapped around his waist. They were slightly blocked from view by the dock, and Max rested his hands on David’s chest as David’s face warmed, eyelids drooping. They sat there like that in the water for several long seconds, noses almost brushing, cheeks flushed, “You want me to teach you, Max?” David’s voice was a little more husky than usual. Max just nodded, unable to find his voice, and David smiled that big, stupid smile that Max had to frequently remind himself that he hated, “Alright then. Let’s get started.”

Max  _ could _ actually swim...sort of. David’s bare torso, which was glistening ridiculously, was extremely distracting, which definitely accounted for how poorly Max was doing. Also, David could stand on the lake bottom at this depth, the water up to his sternum, meaning Max spent all his time either treading water or holding onto either David or the ladder. After about ten minutes, Max realized that if he went  _ under _ the dock and held onto the ladder from  _ that _ side, not only was he completely hidden from anyone on the shore, but the mid-morning sun didn’t reach there. Slightly emboldened by being mostly submerged in the water, Max shifted in and out of his night form very quickly. Nothing happened. He shifted again, then back, slower this time. He could feel the unpleasant tingling on his skin, telling him that the sun was out and he was playing with fire, quite literally, but he wasn’t burning. Interesting.

“Max?!” David’s voice was sharp and anxious. Was he getting separation anxiety already? Jesus.

“What? I’m right here,” Max said.

“Y-Your eyes!”  _ oh shit, that’s right, he could see that _ , “It’s...is it safe to do that? I mean, during the day?” David asked, voice hushed, but still anxious.

“Yeah, it’s dark under here. I was just checking anyway,” Max glanced at the slime covering the underside of the dock, tensing up when the sloshing of water was the only warning he got before David was in his space again.

‘ _ Fuck. Great. So is this a thing now, or...? _ ’ Max’s thought process shuddered to a stop as he felt David’s fingers moving through his hair, ‘ _ If you tell him to stop, he will. _ ’ this was an odd conclusion to reach, especially concerning David, ‘ _ If you tell him to stop, he’ll never do it again because he’ll think it upsets you. He cares about that now. He cares whether or not you’re pleased with him, _ ’ Max just sat there and let David (as he eventually concluded) check him for burns. It didn’t feel terrible. David’s hands were gentle. It was actually kinda nice.

“How did you explain us spending all day together to Gwen?” Max finally asked, voice kind of sleepy.

“Well, since you weren’t signed up for your own camp, I told Gwen that we were going to find a camp, just for you,” David explained, finally letting go of Max and moving back. Max blinked a few times, suddenly aware of a tightness in his throat that wouldn’t disappear.

‘ _ Don’t go and start getting all misty-eyed _ ,’ he told himself harshly, ‘ _ Don’t forget, you made him care. He wouldn’t be hiding under the dock, feeling you up, if you hadn’t made him like this _ ,’ he watched David closely as he moved back, glancing around, ostensibly to make sure nobody had noticed how long they’d been under there, but he might have just wanted to put some space between them, ‘ _ No one would actually give a shit about you if they had a choice.’ _

“I’d been thinking about making a Max Camp for awhile,”  David continued, oblivious, “And this seemed like the perfect opportunity!” he finished cheerfully. Max said nothing, mentally wrestling with this new piece of information before filing it under DAVID, which seemed to be where most of the things he didn’t understand were going since he’d come to this godforsaken shithole. David was just...nice. Really stupid and really genuinely nice. Those were the only real conclusions Max had been able to come to. David was a complete fucking idiot and he actually, legitimately cared. One of these things, Max could deal with. The other...not so much.

The rest of the day progressed much like this, with Max finding new, and increasingly transparent, activities that would involve David taking his shirt off. That night, with no moon in the sky, he was able to fly, out over the lake.

‘ _ I could probably go home if I wanted, _ ’ he thought. He frowned down at the water and his own lack of reflection. He could, probably. Wasn’t that what he really wanted? He sighed, hopping weightlessly off the surface of the water and back into the air. He’d go back and bother David in a little while. He snorted. Bother. Yeah right. David’s face when Max had told him he was getting the night off thrall-duty belonged in the fucking dictionary under the word ‘disappointed’. It had been so cartoonishly crestfallen that Max had wanted to laugh, but the knowledge that the emotion behind it was entirely genuine and entirely Max’s doing made it less funny. David was probably lying in bed, staring at the ceiling, hoping that Max would come and bite him again. Max laughed softly, but it was an ugly, hateful sound. That’s probably exactly what David was doing at this exact moment. He skimmed the surface of the water lightly as he flew. Thinking about how pathetic David was right now took a lot of the excitement out of actually being able to  _ fly _ . Come on Max, snap out of it! He flew up and back towards the camp. He’d just check on David, peek in at him. Maybe glamour him to sleep. He barely seemed to sleep at all.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is a little bit of an interlude chapter. Y'all thought you were gonna get out of this without any plot, didn't you? Also, I tried a few things that may or may not have worked. Just bear with me, alright.  
> Also, David is the clingiest man alive and nothing will convince me otherwise.

As Max returned to camp, he realized he wasn’t the only person out and about. He hovered a few feet above the ground, watching in absolute silence as Neil nervously made his way through the camp. What was Neil doing up? Max followed, floating after him. Neil was hugging himself, which wasn’t an unusual sight, by any means, but he looked extra anxious tonight. He froze, abruptly, and whirled around towards Max. Max stopped. No way. No way, there was no way Neil could see him. David had only seen Max because Max had wanted him to. He didn’t have total control over his glamours, but he had enough to keep himself completely hidden. Neil’s eyes flickered over Max, as if he could almost tell where he was. Neil took a step back, then another, eyes wide, then turned and fled, stumbling down the trail. Max followed at a safe distance. Neil was going to David’s cabin. To talk to him? Max kept his distance, but Neil still seemed to know he was there, constantly glancing over his shoulder in the precise direction Max was.

He stood in front of David’s cabin, shivering and hugging himself, knocking. He glanced back over his shoulder. The door was yanked open.

“You changed your m-!” David started excitedly, then sagged, “Oh,” he said, obviously disappointed that it was Neil. Max couldn’t see Neil’s face, but he could smell his distrust and resentment and hear his heart pounding.

“Can I come in?  _ Please _ ,” Neil added in a whisper, glancing over his shoulder. David glanced out into the darkness, “We need to talk,” David let him in, and Max moved closer. It was really none of his business...right? He could hear the muffled sounds of their voices, amplified by his powers, not quite discernable. 

No. 

It was none of his business. 

Besides, later he could just make David tell him what they’d talked about. Max took off again, going back to skimming the lake. He shouldn’t waste a second of no-moon that could be spent flying.

* * *

  
  


“I don’t know what you want me to say. I don’t really know anything....” David crossed his arms over his middle. Neil’s eyes were on his neck.

“I know you know what kind of camp this really is, but...I can’t believe Mr. Campbell or even Gwen never told you what we really do,” he said, crossing his arms over his chest, much more defensively than David.

“What do you mean ‘what you really do’? Why would Mr. Campbell tell me about what you guys do when you-? Hey, whoa!” David yelped when Neil jumped up and grabbed him by his neck scarf.

“These!” Neil said, loudly enough to be heard clearly from outside, gesturing at David’s neck and shoulders, “All of this! How long have you been getting these?”

“Hey, hey, hands off,” David moved closer to the window, and if Max had been eavesdropping, he’d be able to hear David very clearly now.

“How long, David?” Neil demanded, uncharacteristically forceful.

“I...a week?” David mumbled.

“The waning crescent,” Neil said, mostly to himself, then: “Was.....it was Max, right?” he said softly, “He’s been gone every night this week, always back before sunrise,”  _ if  _ Max had been eavesdropping, he would have had to strain to hear anything Neil was saying, “Tell me it wasn’t Max,” Neil pleaded. David didn’t say anything, but moved a little closer to the window.

“Why do you care?” he asked, and Neil sighed heavily.

“So it’s true,” he said, just loud enough that Max would have heard him, “Fuck... _ fuck _ ,” he whispered forcefully.

“Hey, language,” David corrected.

“But if he’s......why is he here? Why would vampire parents send him to a place like this?” Neil said, mostly to himself.

“What do you mean? Isn’t this the kind of camp that, uh, someone like him would come to?” David asked.

“ _ No _ ,” Neil said forcefully, then sighed, “You don’t get it, David. We’re...we’re enemies.”

“Enemies?”

“Us and them, since the dawn of whenever. The pack would tear him apart if they knew.” the word ‘ _ pack _ ’ would have sent a thrill of fear through Max, had he been within earshot of this statement, “Does he know?” Neil moved a little closer to the window.

“...I thought he did,” David said softly, “I thought that that was why he’d come here, because he’s...you know, not human...like you guys,” if vampires were enemies of the pack...was Max in danger here? The thought disturbed David.

“I guarantee you he has no idea, or he’d still be fighting to escape this place,” Neil said.

“But...do you have to be enemies? I mean...you’re just kids,” David said softly. Neil didn’t answer immediately.

“Only if anyone else finds out,” he sighed again, glancing at the old TV sitting against one wall. God, that thing was ancient, “The others would rip him apart, they’d despise him.”

“What about you?”

“...I am a man of science. Old species prejudices mean nothing to me,” but Neil didn’t sound too sure, or look too sure, “Besides, I have a...scientific curiosity on...what it’s like to be bitten,” he cleared his throat, cheeks warming. That much was true.

“Oh, it’s wonderful,” David said without hesitation, “It’s better than getting-...well, you wouldn’t know anything about that, would you?” he mumbled, sounding self-conscious. Neil wrinkled his nose, but his cheeks warmed further. So it was like sex, was it. Interesting.

“Yeah, whatever,” Neil was hyper-aware of what David was referring to, “David, has he...has he fed you his vampire blood?” they were both closer to the window, but a potential vampyric eavesdropper would have barely been able to catch that last bit.

“I, um, yes? Is that an issue?” David asked. Neil exhaled sharply, “He said something about a thrall, that I was one, or something,” David added uncertainly.

“Yeah, you certainly are,” Neil said, one hand over his eyes, the other fisted at his hip.

“...is that bad?” David asked.

“Well...yesterday, I would have said yes, but now...” Neil lapsed into silence. If the eavesdropper had sat up and peeked through the shutters at that moment, they would see that Neil had started pacing, one hand still over his eyes. The eavesdropper would see his lips moving as he mumbled to himself. David was watching, his expression one of disquiet, “Even as a man of science,” Neil said loud enough to be heard, “This.....this is a lot, alright? Finding out my best friend in this shithole is a leech is a lot. Don’t,” he pointed at David without uncovering his eyes, and David stopped just short of taking offense at the insult to his beloved camp, as well as Neil’s language “We’ll tell him tomorrow. You’re more or less in charge here. Set something up so the three of us can talk...preferably in broad daylight,” Neil mumbled something that Max wouldn’t have caught, “Don’t say anything about it until then,” Neil ordered.

“You want me to  _ lie _ to him?” David asked, aghast, and had Max been eavesdropping, he would have cracked a smile. No dice. A thrall would rather slit their own throat than lie to their master.

“No, just don’t tell him for a couple of hours.” Neil said, clearly annoyed.

“No, no, no, I could never,” David said, waving his hands in denial.

“You’re not  _ lying _ , David, you’re just not saying anything for a few hours.”

“Neil, I  _ can’t _ ,” David pleaded, and really, he couldn’t. Maybe if it were some secret that would save Max’s life, David could keep it, but David was just a thrall, capable of only what a thrall was capable of, and that didn’t include lying to his master.

“David-!” Neil raised his voice in frustration, then stopped, “Look, just tell him that the three of us need to talk. That’s the truth. Tell him there’s something I need to tell him. That’s also the truth. Alright?” he said in an even, measured tone. David was hugging himself. After a few seconds, he nodded, and Neil sighed, shoulders sagging. He pinched the bridge of his nose, “If I go back to our tent, do you think he’ll...?” he made eye contact with David, whose eyes widened.

“ _ No _ , no, no,” David shook his head, “ _ I’m _ his thrall. He bites me,” he said with absolute certainty, cheeks flushed at the thought. Neil’s eyebrows went up, but he said nothing. He didn’t trust David’s judgement on any of this.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That's right, bitch. Werewolves. I've had this AU since 2012. I can just cut and paste it into any fandom (with a few minor changes to fit the narrative) as many times as I want. Just think of these vampires as, like, reverse werewolves.


	6. Chapter 6

Out over the lake, Max could sense other vampires in the distance. Probably at least one or two of the Flower Scouts were vampires, and several of the Woodscouts as well. He had no interest in running into any of them. Oddly enough, they seemed to be giving Camp Campbell a wide berth. Well, whatever. Better for him anyway.

He thought about David’s horribly disappointed face when Max had told him he’d be getting the night off, and snorted. Pathetic. His smile slipped slightly.

‘ _ And whose fault is it that he’s that pathetic, huh?’ _ a little voice asked. Well, he’d always been a little bit pathetic....

“Ah, fuck,” he whispered. He was thirsty anyway. He stopped in the air and turned back towards camp, skimming the water. As he made landfall, he sniffed the air. Neil was making his way back to their tent. Max felt an almost painful stab of curiosity over what David and Neil had talked about. He’d make David tell him in the morning. He thought about David, again, and how he was probably waiting again by the door now that Neil was gone, hoping that Max would come by. Max made a noise in his throat. He didn’t want to deal with that.  _ However _ ...

“Neil?” he said aloud, coming up behind his friend, who flinched violently, freezing up.

“M-Max?” he stammered, his back still to Max.

“Want me to show you something really fucking cool?” Max asked, and Neil slowly turned. Their eyes met and he relaxed. Neil was fully calm when Max pulled his t-shirt off his shoulder, and when Max’s fangs came out, and he gasped when Max bit him. Neil was much smaller than David, and Max’s venom affected him much more strongly. Max pretty much had to carry him back to the tent and help him onto his cot, where he was almost immediately asleep. He didn’t take much blood. Neil didn’t have as much to offer as David did. Max clumsily tucked Neil in, watching him sleep for a few seconds, before going back out to fly as much as possible before the sun rose.

 

* * *

  
  


It was during morning showers that a high-pitched, girly scream rang through the camp, from one of the ancient shower stalls. Several people, of various genders, came running.

“Are you okay?” Gwen sounded put upon.

“Did you see a spider?!” Nikki asked excitedly.

“No! I’m! I’m fine!” Neil yelped, very unconvincingly, “I! I thought, uh, it was a spider! But it, uh! It was just a crack in the wall!” this was good enough for Gwen. She shrugged and walked away.

“Are you  _ sure _ it wasn’t really a spider?” Nikki asked, disappointed.

“Y-Yeah, I’m sure,” Neil sounded out of breath now, “I’m fine, I just....I’m fine.” Nearly everyone had wandered back to what they’d been doing, except for Nikki. Max strolled up, flicking a lighter on and off, trying to decide what he was going to set on fire today.

“What’s up? I heard a scream. Anything entertaining going on?” Max asked, just a tinge of hopefulness in his voice.

“No, Neil just saw a spider, but it wasn’t even a  _ real _ spider,” Nikki said sadly.

“You okay, dude?” Max knocked on the wall beside the moldy shower curtain.

“I’m fine! Everything’s fine!” Neil’s voice was suddenly high and breathless again, and the water shut off. Max glanced at Nikki, shrugged, then went in the other direction, still flicking the lighter. He could get up to some real mischief with this thing before David caught him and confiscated it.

‘ _ He won’t confiscate it, _ ’ a little voice whispered, ‘ _ He answers to you now, remember? _ ’ Max’s hand paused mid-motion. That...was true. David did what Max told him to do. Max could do whatever he wanted and David couldn’t stop him. Max expected this revelation to be exciting, but it wasn’t. It was...disappointing. What fun was wreaking havoc without David (fruitlessly) trying to stop him and maintain order? Max scowled. Being a vampire was turning out to be bullshit.

Behind him, still in the shower, Neil hugged himself, staring in the small, foggy mirror. Carefully, he touched the spot on his shoulder again and stifled a groan as he shivered. He wiped a small spot clear on the mirror, moving to check the mark. Yeah, there was no doubt about it. That was a vampire bite. That was the reason he couldn’t remember the walk back to his tent. Neil’s mouth tightened, and he dried himself roughly. He’d been right not to trust David’s judgement. Turns out he and Max were by no means exclusive. Neil hesitated before dragging his fingers over the bruise again and bit back a whine. God, no wonder David’s fingers were always up under his scarf. This felt incredible. He managed to stop touching it long enough to dress and leave the shower. It would be time for them to split off into camps soon.

Nearby, Max was still stewing over how difficult it was actually turning out to be to be a vampire. He barely noticed when everyone else was shepherded off, but he did notice when he was suddenly alone.

“Max, um, could you come with me for just a second?” David asked brightly. Max chalked the odd tone in his voice up to him trying and failing to play it cool, and followed David into the counselor’s cabin, unsurprised by David’s choice of destination. He was surprised, however, to find Neil sitting primly on the edge of David’s bed, waiting.

“Uhhh, hey Neil,” Max said, cutting his eyes at David, who was blushing and wringing his hands.

“Hi Max,” Neil said in a subdued voice, eyes on David, “David here seems to think that you don’t bite anyone but him. Want to relieve him of that notion?” he asked dryly. Max blinked once, then twice, then three times.

“What?” David asked, sounding a little defensive, and Neil pulled his shirt off his shoulder, revealing the livid red bite, “ _ What?! _ ” his voice rose slightly.

“Um,” Max said.

“Max! I thought...I thought what we had....was....was special,” David said with absolute sincerity and an obvious undertone of hurt.

“Um,” Max said.

“You know he’s not  _ bound _ to only feed on you, right? I mean, I’m not offering myself as an alternative, but he doesn’t  _ have _ to just bite you. You’re not particularly special,” Neil said.

“Um,” Max said.

“What do you mean I’m not special? I’m his  _ thrall _ ,” David snapped.

“Um.”

“Do you even know what that means?”

“It means we exchanged blood and I belong to him,  _ Neil _ .”

“Um.”

“Bravo. Do you know what else it means?”

“I...uh...it means we’re connected,” David sniffed, crossing his arms.

“Um,” Max said.

“You don’t know what else it means, do you?” Neil asked, voice just a little bit smug, and David bristled.

“I don’t need to! That’s all I need to know!”

“Okay. Okay. Okay. Hold up,” Max put both his hands up, “Back up. Back  _ way _ the fuck up,” he made a rewinding motion with his hands, “Okay,” he said again, “Okay....so.....you,” he pointed at Neil, “Know about...”

“I know you’re a vampire and you’ve made David your thrall and also you bit me last night,” Neil crossed his arms.

“Okay,” Max said again, holding his hand up as David pouted, “Okay. How?” Neil and David made eye contact, “Uh, guys?” David looked away guiltily.

“I thought you knew,” he said softly.

“Uh, Max, this....this is a camp for werewolves,” Neil said apologetically. Max blinked at him, “I’d say almost two-thirds of everyone here is a werewolf or is going to be a werewolf,” Neil explained.

“You’re...fucking with me,” one of Max’s rare smiles spread over his face in his disbelief.

Elsewhere in Camp Campbell, Nikki was searching the showers for the spider Neil had definitely lied about seeing, quite sure it was real. She was down on her hands and knees, whispering, “Here spidey, spidey, spidey.” As she crawled around the corner of the showers, from across the way, she heard a thundering:

“WHAT THE FUCK DAVID?!? WHY DIDN’T YOU TELL ME?!”

Nikki’s ears pricked up, like a dog. That sounded  _ way _ more interesting than some dumb spider. She stood up, not bothering to brush off her knees, and trotted towards the counselor’s cabins. She could hear multiple raised voices, the least of which was not Max, who was verging on unintelligible shrieking. She reached the cabin and went up on her tiptoes, peeking over the window sill. Max had climbed David like a tree, seemingly to get away from Neil.

“Max, you need to calm down,” Neil said in a low, urgent voice, “If you keep screaming then people will come to see what’s wrong, and I would advise against telling anyone else in this camp that you’re a vampire.”

“You’re a fucking  _ mongrel _ ,” Max hissed through his bared teeth.

“Yeah, and you’re a leech, but I thought we were all friends here,” Neil snapped. Max said nothing, seemingly just noticing David trying to calm him down, as he had been for the last three odd minutes. Max sat still, watching Neil mistrustfully and allowing David to stroke his hair and attempt to reassure him, arms crossed over his chest. Neil didn’t seem particularly impressed. He and Max made eye contact for several long seconds before they both snorted and started laughing.

“Okay, okay, okay, okay, okay,” Max put his hands up, relying on David to hold him up, “This is super fucked up, though. You’ve gotta admit that.”

“Yeah, sure, okay, alright, you being a vampire in a werewolf camp is pretty fucked up, I’ll admit that,” Neil wiped his eyes, “But that’s what we have to deal with right now, okay?” And the two of them (plus David) discussed their options, unaware of the pink nose and pink eyes peeking over the window ledge.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I just wanna mention that Nikki is the most fun to write out of all of them. There's a short list of characters that are just so fucking fun to write, and she's on that list. Neil continues to somewhat elude me.  
> Now I have to decide who is and isn't a werewolf. Ugh.   
> Space Kid's definitely human. Because he's perfect the way he is.


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I tried something vaguely different in this chapter. You guys will have to tell me what you think. Sorry it took so long. Btw that rosewood link is supposed to be there because I'm pretty sure most people don't know what rosewood looks like.

“So what does it mean to be a thrall?” Max was sitting still and letting David stroke his hair. He glanced up at David’s question, “I thought it meant we exchanged blood and I belong to you now, but Neil acted like it meant something else,” it still threw Max off a little bit, hearing David say ‘I belong to you’ so casually and with such sincerity.

“Well, I mean...” Max cut his eyes to one side. How exactly did one explain what it meant to be a thrall? A thrall was many things. A pet, a lover, a food source, a legal ward, a responsibility, a servant, a toy. David was Max’s responsibility, at least until he left Camp Campbell. All that really meant for David was that he answered to Max and that Max was his number one priority, but taking Max’s blood had already flipped that switch inside his head, “That’s basically it. He was just yankin’ your chain,” which wasn’t _entirely_ true, but Neil had been purposely riling David up. Max glanced over David’s shoulder at the door, then sighed, sneering as he cuddled close and rested his head on David’s shoulder. David was _delighted_ , as Max knew he would be, and cradled Max in his arms, stroking his hair.

“Oh, well, good,” David said, a little dizzy with how happy getting to hold Max was making him, “I was kind of worried I’d done something wrong,” he said softly. He turned his head and found his and Max’s faces very close together.

“I still can’t believe you didn’t fucking tell me this was a fucking werewolf camp,” Max said quietly, and David’s eyes went to his lips. They were small, and they were so brown, like rosewood. And they looked so soft.

A few years ago, when Mr. Campbell had first hired him as a full-time counselor, he’d given Davey an official/unofficial tour of his summer home on Fantasy Island. Of the many luxurious items he’d seen in the manor, the one he really remembered was an expensive [ rosewood ](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/c7/RosewoodPieces.jpg/1024px-RosewoodPieces.jpg) chess set Mr. Campbell had told him was from Brazil. It was hard to remember much else aside from the large, warm hand between his shoulder blades, guiding him through the house and the intense, unwavering feeling that he was being watched by something he could only catch glimpses of out of the corner of his eye.

David was brought back into the present when the tip of Max’s nose brushed his. He glanced down at those soft, rosewood lips and wondered what they tasted like. A tiny sliver of dread gripped his chest. It wasn’t normal to think that, was it? It wasn’t normal to look at a little boy (even a little boy as _precious_ as Max) and wonder what his mouth tasted like, right? That was wrong, wasn’t it? David’s morals and the vampire blood still coursing through his veins warred with each other, the vampire blood telling him under no uncertain terms that if Max initiated a kiss, he would kiss back. But what the vampire blood wasn’t being super clear on was whether or not he should initiate the kiss himself, which was what he was struggling with. He ought to, right? Right? Did Max want him to initiate a kiss? Oh, he was so confused.

“David, don’t have an aneurysm,” Max said flatly.

“Sorry,” David said automatically, and Max sighed, rubbing one eye.

“I wish I knew if you were gonna be like this forever,” he said quietly. David wasn’t sure what that meant, but he wasn’t going to question Max. Instead, he ran his fingers through Max’s curls. Max bristled, but didn’t protest. He lay still and let David cuddle him. This was fucking miserable. David was little more than a shell of his former self, concerned only with pleasing Max. But Max didn’t want a mindless lackey. He didn’t want a thrall that worshipped the ground he walked on. That was weird and vaguely creepy. But as much as he wanted to blame David for this shit...he knew that wasn’t fair. Normally, he wouldn’t care whether or not it was fair, but he knew for a fact that if he openly blamed David, David would immediately agree and take all the blame onto himself, which was also vaguely creepy. Max closed his eyes against the sensation of David nuzzling his hair. He’d made this bed. Might as well lie in it. He sighed and kept his eyes closed.

“Oh Max,” David whispered, and Max’s eyes snapped open, cheeks reddening. Okay, now _that_ was creepy.

“Let go,” Max said coldly, and David immediately let go, startled, “They’re going to come looking for us soon,” Max said, climbing off of David’s lap. David looked disappointed, but seemed to accept this, and he brushed himself off, and they left the cabin.

 

* * *

 

 

David went through the motions of normal camp life, but his heart wasn’t in it. He wished he could be with Max, wished he could be cuddling Max. It was so hard to think about anything else. Something else would start to draw his attention and his brain would go to it, comfortable thinking about whatever it was. Then, without warning, like a slap to the face, he would be _forced_ to remember Max, forced to remember that Max was what mattered. His brain would scream at him, chastise him for daring to let his mind wander away from what _mattered_ , and that was Max.

Sometimes, David wanted to cry. It was so exhausting, so overwhelming, so stressful to only be allowed to think about Max. He had a job to do. He needed to be able to think about the other campers, about what they needed, about their camps. He needed to be able to think about Gwen, about Camp Campbell itself.

‘ _What?_ ’ his brain demanded, ‘ _You don’t_ want _to think about_ ~~_Master_ ~~ _Max? Is that it?_ ’ anxiety gripped David’s chest like a vise, tightening painfully. **NO!** No, no, no, of course he did. Of course he wanted to think about Max, Who wouldn’t want to think about Max? Max was _wonderful_ . He was such a precious boy. David’s chest tightened in a more pleasant way, then the painful grip started to loosen as he thought about Max, face warming. Those dark eyes ~~narrowed in hatred~~ , those black curls, those rosewood lips ~~twisted into a sullen scowl~~ , ‘ _That sharp tongue_ ,’ his brain reminded him, and his face warmed further, thinking of Max’s ~~foul mouth~~ sharp, sharp wit, utterly merciless in who it was willing to cut. Such a precious, clever boy.

“David, you alright?” he jerked his head up, startled at the sound of Gwen’s voice. She was looking at him with sharp eyes. He cleared his throat.

“I’m, ah, I’m fine, Gwen,” he smiled. She didn’t look convinced.

“You look flushed. You’re not getting sick, are you?” the question came out more as an accusation than actual concern. David swallowed.

“I....maybe,” his smile was a little forced, “Actually, I’m going to go take a short rest. I wouldn’t want to come down with anything,” Gwen was displeased, but accepted this, and let him go back to his cabin, where he drew the blinds and locked the door and laid on the bed, staring at the ceiling, thinking about those rosewood lips and Max’s ~~hateful cruel~~ sharp wit. After several seconds, he glanced down. The front of his shorts were tented, almost cartoonishly. He bit his lip, fists clenched at his sides.

‘ _Want me to touch you, Camp Man?_ ’ it was Max’s voice, inside his head, but it was cobbled together from multiple things the boy had said during his time at Camp Campbell. David closed his eyes, squeezing them shut. He could imagine it clearly: Max would straddle his stomach, watching him with glittering eyes, precious face twisted into a ~~n unpleasant smirk~~ smile. He’d run his little hands up David’s chest, and just imagining it made David’s body arch up off the bed, and his eyes snapped open. He was alone. There was no little ~~male nymphet~~ ~~minx~~ ~~slut~~ precious boy sitting on his stomach ~~leering~~ smiling coyly down at him. David felt queasy and a little light-headed.

He’d never thought this way about any of his campers before, never touched himself while thinking about ~~a child~~ one of his campers. But it was _Max_ . Surely that made it alright. Max was ~~a child, David, not even a teenager yet~~ special. Of course. Of course. David exhaled through his nose, relaxing slightly. Max was ~~too young for you to be jerking off to like some kind of pedophile, David~~ different than the other campers. He was ~~just a kid~~ more mature than the others. That was why David was ~~his slave~~ dedicated to serving him. Because Max was ~~a kid~~ special. David let his eyes fall shut, hand traveling down between his legs.

“Max,” he whispered ~~like some kind of pervert~~ , “Oh Max,” he imagined that it was ~~a child’s hand~~ Max’s hand rubbing him off ~~you sicko~~ . His other hand went to cover his mouth, muffling the noises he was making. He could just imagine Max rubbing him through his shorts, ~~smirking~~ smiling coyly.

“ _Come on, Camp Man. Are you really this pathetic? Is this really all it takes to get you hot and bothered? A little kid squirming around in your lap?_ ” Max ~~jeered~~ asked. David whined in his throat. ~~What a fucking sicko.~~ “ _You love this, don’t you Camp Man? You love the idea of me touching you. Just imagining my hands on your body gets you so horny, doesn’t it? You belong to me, don’t you?_ ” Max ~~mocked~~ whispered. ~~You know this is wrong, David.~~ David whined again, “ _You’re all mine for me to do whatever I want with. You’ll do whatever I tell you-_ ” ~~you dirty pedo~~ “- _you little slut. You were born for this. Come on, Camp Man, come for Daddy._ ” David came in his shorts with a muffled cry, collapsing on the bed, panting, hand still over his mouth. His eyes started to burn. ~~Congratulations, David, you just jerked off to the thought of a little boy. You’re a pedophile now.~~

David silently got up and changed his shorts, sitting on the edge of the bed, eyes still burning. He didn’t masturbate very often, but when he did, he usually felt good afterwards. Right now he felt....bad. ~~Of course you feel bad, Davey, you just jerked off to the thought of one of your campers, you sick fuck.~~ He didn’t understand why he felt so bad. His thoughts were yanked, as if on a leash, back to Max, and he frowned slightly. Orgasms and Max. Individually, those things made him very happy. Logically, combining them should be euphoric...right? Right? He rubbed his eyes and laid back down on the bed, curling up into a ball and hugging his knees to his chest. He felt fairly relaxed, the orgasm had done that much. But he felt this little ball of anxiety, deep in his stomach, never quite letting him forget that something was wrong. ~~You sick freak. You don’t deserve to work with children.~~

Tension was creeping into his neck and shoulders, and he whined low in his throat. If he didn’t stop, he was going to give himself a tension headache. He got those occasionally, and they were always killers. Gwen had once given him a quick neck rub, which had been really, really great of her and while it hadn’t made the headache go away, it had kept him semi-functional for the rest of the day. The only time something had actually made the headache go away was...well, something that wasn’t likely to happen again.

Heat crept up his cheeks as he rolled over, grabbing his log and hugging it to his chest. It had been over a year ago, several weeks before camp had opened. He’d been allowed, again, to accompany Mr. Campbell to his summer home on Fantasy Island. Mr. Campbell had actually insisted David stay overnight at the estate in one of the guest rooms (it was almost the new moon too, and oh, wow, that actually made a lot more sense now that he knew about vampires). Normally, David would keep to himself and do his best to stay out of Mr. Campbell’s way, but that night he’d followed his employer around, unable to shake the feeling that something was watching him and that small shadow he could only catch glimpses of had seemed to be following him and he didn’t want to be alone. He kind of understood why the children called it Spooky Island.

They’d taken dinner together in the huge, empty dining room, but Mr. Campbell had been on the phone the entire meal, talking to one of his ‘business contacts’ in an impatient tone. More than aware that many of his employer’s business ventures tended to lean towards the somewhat-less-than-legal side of things, David had kept his eyes on his plate and done his very best not to eavesdrop. The stress of the afternoon had worked his neck up, and he’d eventually had to stop eating, setting his knife and fork down, pressing his thumbs into the base of his skull, trying to get some relief. He’d barely noticed Mr. Campbell get up from the table a few minutes later, still rubbing his neck and biting his lip against his whimpers of pain, but he’d definitely noticed Mr. Campbell step up behind him, still talking on the phone, and bat his hands away.

David had sat there while Mr. Campbell had told Rodrigo that he didn’t care what it fucking took, ‘the shipment’ would arrive ‘no later than Tuesday night’, speaking sharply into the phone he had cradled between his ear and his shoulder, pressing his thumbs into the meat of David’s neck and sending sparks of delicious pain up into his skull. It was a semi-embarrassing memory, because David had just sat there like some kind of _dunderhead_ with his mouth hanging open the entire time. Most of the time he could keep his extremely embarrassing crush on Mr. Campbell under control, but that evening he’d been very grateful that the lower half of his body was tucked under the table. That evening was burned into his memory, the way Mr. Campbell had turned him into a quivering lump of loose muscle with his thumbs while barely even paying attention to David, very invested in his angry conversation with Rodrigo.

“David!” he jerked upright, pulled out of his memory by the sound of Gwen’s voice and a sharp knock on the door. The humdrum of camp life hadn’t stopped just because he was in a moral quandary. He sighed and smiled, getting up, and after a quick check that he was presentable, he went to the door.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The image of Cameron Campbell with a cellphone between his ear and shoulder, absent-mindedly giving David a neck massage while half-shouting at the Columbian drug dealer on the other end wouldn't leave me alone. I feel like Campbell, at least in this fic, views David as a useful idiot whose super obvious crush makes him very easily manipulated. Also, I'm Camvid trash because David is a twink who needs a dick in his ass.  
> Next chapter will be more of Max trying to deal with having a thrall, then after that it'll be the waxing half and we'll hear more from the werewolves of Camp Campbell.  
> Also, David getting slapped by the vampire blood every time he tries to think about something other than Max is me whenever I try to get into a new fandom (Camp Camp for example) and Gravity Falls is like "Nah bitch, I still own your soul."  
> EDIT: I'm gonna be completely real with you guys, I 1000% forgot that David jacked it to the thought of Max biting him a few chapters ago and can we possibly pretend I'm not majorly fucking up my own fic's continuity? Thanks.  
> EDIT EDIT: Let's just say that David forgot about that first incident when he became a thrall.


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, big emetophobia warning for this chapter, my dudes. There's some explicit vomiting in the middle section. If vomit is at all a thing for you, tread _very_ carefully.

At Max’s suggestion, everyone had Swimming Camp the next day. David praised him excessively for his thoughtfulness regarding the other campers.

“Don’t worry,” Max assured him, deadpan, “I only suggested it so no one would get suspicious. I’m not about to start giving a shit or something disgusting like that.” Nevertheless, David was very quick to remind everyone that it was Max’s idea, which got him punched in the stomach (human strength, not vampire strength) more than once, because some of the other kids were smirking at Max behind David’s back.

That night, as David sobbed uncontrollably into his lap, begging forgiveness for displeasing him, it occurred to Max for the first time that insisting on loudly thanking Max was much more like Real-David than it was like Thrall-David, and for the first time in awhile, Max actually felt a little hopeful. Maybe David wouldn’t be a grovelling idiot forever. Well....not any more than he normally was.

“I said it’s fine, David,” Max said, getting really tired of David’s muffled caterwauling.

“But I...but I....but I...” David sniveled, and Max really wanted to hit him, but he knew that would make the situation worse, so he just patted him awkwardly on the head.

“Let’s just forget about it, okay?” Max wanted nothing more than to drop the subject. He handed David a tissue, and David blew his nose, wiping his eyes, and tossed the tissue away. He took a deep breath, then his lips started to wobble, and Max silently handed him another tissue. This was the sixth tissue he’d used.

After that tissue was used and tossed away, David was coaxed to rest his head in Max’s lap. As Max cautiously and somewhat awkwardly started to run his fingers through David’s hair, he was extremely glad no one else was around to see this. He had a reputation to uphold, and that didn’t involve petting his camp counselor. David made a soft, happy noise, and Max sighed, trying with all his might not to smile. He failed.

The next morning, just before Day 2 of Swimming Camp, David quietly asked Max if he could stay more or less within David’s line of sight. Max was about to give him an extremely snide response when David continued.

“It just....makes it a little easier,” he said, rubbing the back of his head, and Max paused, narrowing his eyes, “I mean, you know... sometimes it’s really difficult to pay attention to Gwen and the other campers because I...” he avoided Max’s gaze, “I mean, it’s not like I don’t  _ want _ to think about you,” he added quickly, “I just, sometimes it’s, uh, useful for me to be able to do other things and think about other people for a little while,” he shrugged awkwardly. Max’s eyes narrowed further. This was another good sign. David was able to admit to himself, and Max, that it wasn’t natural or good or healthy for him to think only about Max every second of every day.

As much as Max had worried about David (and that was a lot, if you considered all the time Max had spent pretending that he  _ wasn’t  _ worried about what he’d done to David), it had only been about five days. The crescent-half wasn’t even over yet.

“Yeah, sure, whatever,” Max said, and David perked up, beaming at him, and Max grumbled, keeping his eyes on the ground and pretending like his ears weren’t red. Max spent most of the day sitting on the edge of the dock with his feet in the water. 

Neil wasn’t  _ great _ at swimming and needed a bit of help from David. He was more than aware of David’s eyes constantly flickering to the dock, where Max was being sullen. It did actually bother him. He’d done his best to play it off like it wasn’t a big deal, but the fact that David was a vampire thrall (to Neil’s best friend, no less) was really fucking with him. Max being a vampire was kind of freaky, but Neil could deal with it. David being a thrall? Not so much.

David seemed a bit more like himself than he had right around the new moon. Neil wasn’t really sure how thralls worked, and he got the feeling that Max didn’t know much about it either, which wasn’t very reassuring. Max didn’t seem very immersed in vampire culture, which was something Neil could relate to, since he’d inherited the werewolf gene from his mom’s side of the family and his dad was completely human. Maybe that was why it wasn’t hard for him to accept that Max was a vampire, something he was supposed to despise.

“Now keep moving your arms,” David instructed him, eyes on Max. Neil rolled his eyes, but did what he was told, “And move your legs at the same time,” that was a little harder, but David’s hands on his waist kept him feeling more or less secure, “That’s it!” David praised, and for the first time, Neil almost felt like he was getting the hang of it.

On the dock, Max was watching Gwen reclining in a beach chair, reading a different trashy magazine. Space Kid was using his helmet to float around in the water. Ered was nudging a beach ball idly with her foot. Dolf was drawing a picture of the lake. Max sighed, glancing back out at David. Their eyes met, and David visibly perked up even more, and Max rolled his eyes. Nikki was gliding through the water like a fish, but that wasn’t very surprising. Max’s eyes met Neil’s, and he could see judgment there. Max broke eye contact. He didn’t need any more judgment for what he’d done to David. He definitely had the judgment aspect taken care of.  He glanced away. Nerris was trying to convince Preston to pretend to be a sea monster for her to fight, but he looked less than into it. Harrison, oddly, was just splashing happily in the shallows, not doing anything magic-related.

Max glanced around again, and was hit with a thought. Any or all of the people around him could be werewolves. The thought sent a shudder through his body. He knew David wasn’t, and he knew Neil was, but everyone else...

Max shuddered again. He glanced at Gwen. If this was a werewolf camp, then...it made sense that at least one of the counselors would be a werewolf, right? Was Gwen a mongrel? What about her love of those stupid vampire romances? She wouldn’t like those if she was a mongrel, right? Max swallowed audibly, glancing around at the other campers. David had moved on to helping Harrison swim, and Neil was paddling around awkwardly. He’d gotten his hands on a floatation device, which he’d tucked under his arms, that was keeping him afloat.

“Hey Neil, Neil, Neil, Neil,” Nikki swam circles around him.

“Hi, Nikki,” he said, voice a little tired, a little patient, a little fond.

“Is Max gonna come swim with us?” she asked, diving down, then resurfacing. Neil glanced over at Max, still sitting on the dock, swinging his legs, toes brushing the water.

“Uh, I don’t think so,” he said. Max sitting on the dock was a result of one of two things. Either Max wanted to sulk and had ordered David to leave him alone (likely) or David had asked him to stay out of the water for some reason (less likely). The only reason he was even considering the second option was that he didn’t think Max would spend the day on the end of the dock of his own volition. If Neil knew anything about Max it was that he was easily bored (and that he was extremely cunning and resourceful). Max would probably rather be back in their tent, playing the contraband handheld game he kept in his hoodie.

“Oh, okay,” Nikki said, not sounding particularly put out, “Do ya think it’s because leeches are allergic to water or something? Would he melt like the Wicked Witch of the West if he got in?” she asked, sounding excited by the prospect.

“No, I don’t think so,” Neil said absently, still watching Max. Then he registered what Nikki had actually said, “Wait, what did you say?” his head snapped back around.

“I asked if leeches melt in water, duh! Aren’t you even listening?” she blew a raspberry at him. He stared at her, eyes wide.

“Why would- how did you- wh-what do you mean? What does that have to do with Max?” he asked, voice high and nervous.

“Well Max is a leech, right?” Nikki said, as if she were stating that the sky was blue or that if you dropped a pen it would fall down and not up. Neil opened and closed his mouth a few times.

“What makes you say that?” he asked in a hushed voice, glancing around. No one was particularly near them or paying them much mind.

“Well you guys were talking about it. You called him a vampire, like, three times,” Nikki continued swimming circles around him.

“You heard that?”

“Uh, yeah?” Nikki stopped and began to tread water with ease.

“Did anyone else hear?” Neil asked in an urgent whisper. Nikki shrugged, the movement making a small splash.

“I mean, David was there too,” she said. Neil looked around again.

“Nikki, this is serious,” he whispered, “Did you tell anyone?”

“Nope!” she said cheerfully, and Neil sagged slightly against his floatation device.

“Nikki...” he didn’t even know where to begin. This was a  _ very _ serious discussion, “You understand how serious this is, right?”

“I mean, I guess,” she shrugged again.

“ _ Nikki _ ,”Neil wore a pained expression, “If anyone else found out about this, Max could be  _ killed _ ,” he whispered.

“That would suck,” she agreed.

“ _ Nikki. _ ”

“What?”

“You cannot tell  _ anyone _ . Not Preston, not Nerris, not Ered,  _ no one _ . And  _ especially _ not Gwen,” he emphasized.

“Why is Gwen especially?”

“Becau- Nikki, no one can find out, do you-?”

“Neil, like, I get it,” she said, briefly serious, “I’m not  _ stupid _ .” Then she stuck her tongue out again and blew another raspberry and dove back into the water, swimming away. Neil watched her go, anxiety gnawing at his stomach. Shit.

 

* * *

 

 

David was actually able to fulfill all his usually responsibilities that afternoon now that Max wasn’t  _ constantly _ on his mind. Dolf got some mild food poisoning and David had to stay with him all night.

“There you go,” David said patiently, rubbing little circles on the boy’s back as he vomited into a bucket. David helped Dolf blow his nose and wipe his eyes between rounds of vomiting. David prayed that this was the worst of it.

According to the roster, Dolf was also from a werewolf family, but, like Neil (and Nikki, if he wasn’t mistaken) he hadn’t had his first transformation. If he’d have one at all. Gwen had explained it to David at one point, that lycanthropy wasn’t a dominant trait and that werewolves had a bad habit of inbreeding to try and have werewolf children. Even if Dolf never presented as a werewolf, he could potentially pass the gene on to his children one day. David wondered idly if vampires had the same issues, as he mopped the boy’s fevered brow with a damp cloth.

This brought Max back to the forefront of his mind and reminded him that it had been  _ hours _ since he’d seen Max. A little knot of anxiety formed in his chest at the realization. He needed to see Max. His eyes went immediately to the door, then back to Dolf, who was resting his small body against the bucket between bouts of vomiting up trickles of stomach acid. He couldn’t leave Dolf, but...

“How are you feeling?” he asked, still rubbing circles on the boy’s back. Dolf lifted his hand and gave a trembling thumbs up. David smiled gently, briefly distracted from the thought of  his master Max. He smoothed back Dolf’s hair, mopping his brow a bit more. Could he call Gwen in to stay with Dolf? He grimaced. No, she wouldn’t unless she had no other choice. He petted Dolf absently, staring longingly at the door. Gwen would come eventually to check in on them, and even if he couldn’t get her to stay with Dolf, maybe he could get her to send Max in...but how would he explain that?

“Darn it,” he murmured, barely loud enough to be heard. There was a knock on the door, “Come in,” he called, just as Dolf started to retch again. The door cracked open. It was Neil. He looked deeply uncomfortable.

“Gwen sent me,” he said, “Do you need anything?” he was looking at anything other than Dolf, face a little green. David opened his mouth, then felt relief wash over him as he realized that this was actually good for him.

“Actually, Neil, do, uh, do you think you could send for Max?” David asked, voice a little too cheerful. Neil made an unamused face and David made an apologetic one in return, “I just need to talk to him real quick,” he added, trying to convey with his tone and expression just how desperate he was. Neil looked displeased but resigned.

“Alright,” he said, wincing when Dolf retched loudly behind David, obviously glad to get away. David went back to tending to Dolf, but there was less tension in his shoulders now. Dolf had stopped heaving, resting against the side of the bucket. David realized that he should have asked for more towels and another bucket at the very least, but he’d been so focused on the thought of Max that it hadn’t even occurred to him. He used the edge of Dolf’s shirt to wipe a little trickle of bile on his chin. He needed tissues, blankets, and pillows too. David wasn’t a particularly religious man, but he was praying to whatever was listening that Dolf’s only symptoms would be the fever and the vomiting. He’d dealt with worse before, but he had no desire to do it again.

The door opened and his head snapped around. Max stuck his head in, scowling. David was vaguely aware of the absolutely enamored expression that spread over his face at the sight of Max. He might have imagined Max’s scowl softening slightly as he looked at David.

“What’s up, Camp Man?” he asked drolly, eyes moving to Dolf, expression shifting to one of mild sympathy and distaste.

“I just....” David glanced at poor Dolf, who was heaving again, “....wanted to see...how you were doing,” he said, somewhat paranoid, despite being fairly certain that what he and Max were saying was extremely low on the list of things Dolf cared about right now. Max looked annoyed, but David would have liked to think that it was more of a fond, exasperated type of annoyance, “Also, uh, if you could send someone with more towels and a bucket, I would really appreciate it!” he added brightly.

“I’ll grab it. Got nothin’ better to do,” Max couldn’t quiet hide his grimace of sympathy as Dolf made a miserable noise, “Anything else, Camp Man?” he quirked his lips, and David had never loved anything or anyone as much as he loved Max. For a split second, he thought he might burst with it.

“I, ah, some tissues and pillows too, if you don’t mind, Mas-Max,” David quickly corrected, but as soon as he did, he knew he’d messed up. Max blinked once, then his expression went sub-zero as it registered that David had almost called him ‘Master’.

“Sure,” Max said coldly, and left without another word. David’s lips trembled for a moment. Anxiety and stress and guilt were bubbling and knotting in his stomach. He was starting to feel like  _ he _ might vomit. He’d ruined it. Max had been looking at him with that grumpy but fond expression and David had ruined it. He had to actively fight tears as he continued to rub circles on Dolf’s back. About five minutes later, there was another knock. This time it was Nurf, with the items David had requested. Dolf had finally stopped throwing up for the time being, and Nurf was convinced (bribed with extended floatie privileges in the lake tomorrow) to stay with Dolf for a bit while David cleaned up and gathered more supplies. He didn’t see Max the rest of the afternoon, or that night.

  
  


* * *

 

  
  


The second day of Swimming Camp, Max stole Gwen’s phone and used it to google thralls. He weeded through the information until he found things that seemed to have been written by actual vampires. He knew he didn’t have a lot of time, so he read through it quickly, then deleted his search history right around the time Gwen caught him.

Dolf wasn’t nearly as sick as he had been the night before. He mostly slept restlessly, waking up every now and again to vomit. Gwen stayed with him. Max sat on the end of the dock, kicking his legs and watching Nikki move effortlessly through the water. From what he’d gathered, everything David was doing was pretty normal, although David was particularly bad at hiding the changes in his behavior. 

Max glanced over at the ‘lifeguard chair’ (which was just a chair on a box on the shore) which Gwen had been sitting in the previous day, knowing David was today’s lifeguard. He was entirely unsurprised to find David’s eyes on him rather than the swimming campers. David startled slightly when their eyes met, looking guilty, but didn’t break Max’s gaze. Max made an incredulous gesture out at the lake, and only then did David seem to remember that he was supposed to be keeping an eye on the swimmers. His head jerked back up, cheeks red, and Max rolled his eyes. After a minute he sighed, getting up and walking over to David’s chair, sitting in the sand next to him.

“Wh-What are you doing?” David whispered. There was no one near enough to hear what they were saying.

“Sitting with you. Dumbass,” Max said, leaning against the box, staring out across the lake. There was silence, “You’re being weird about it, aren’t you?” Max asked dully, glancing up. David was staring at him, expression beatific. Max groaned quietly, looking out at the lake, but his ears were warm. There was a comfortable silence for several seconds, “I’m not mad at you,” Max added, and he almost heard all the tension leave David’s body.

“I...I won’t call you that if it upsets you,” David whispered, voice very serious, “I just...it just....feels right,” he said, sounding a little self-conscious.

“I know,” Max said, then fell silent for several long moments, “You’re, uh,” he cleared his throat, staring down at the sand, “You’re a, uh...a good boy,” he mumbled, tone surly. He felt David twitch and glanced up. David looked so happy that he might burst. He beamed at Max, and Max’s lips twitched, curling up at the corners, eyes creasing. Abruptly, he turned away, schooling the expression off his face, cheeks still flushed, “Whatever,” he mumbled.

David floated through the rest of the day on Cloud 9, the words ‘good boy’ bouncing around in his head. Max spent the day reminding himself not to smile.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter, it's the half-moon :3c  
> EDIT: I'm gonna hold the next chapter hostage until I get some comments I s2g  
> EDIT EDIT: I'm super jk I just want comments


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hey guys, sorry this took so long. the holidays kind of threw me off. also, I am aware that day two of swimming camp happened twice, let's not talk about it. I'm keeping the lunar schedule pretty well though.  
> uhh, mind the tags for this chapter. things get a little fucky.

 

On the third and final day of Swim Camp, Dolf was well enough to sit outside on the shore and watch the other kids swim. Max was even moodier than usual. It was the waxing half-moon, meaning that the crescent half was over and the werewolves would be running tonight. He and Dolf sat on either side of the lifeguard chair. David was lifeguard again and seemed a little bummed Dolf was there, because he didn’t get to make cow eyes at Max or possibly get called a good boy again. Dolf just drew in his notepad, wrapped in a blanket with a bucket beside him, just in case. Max didn’t care either way. 

From what little he’d been able to read on Gwen’s phone, Max had realized that having a thrall was kind of like having a pet; it was a responsibility. He’d made his bed, so he’d lay in it and take responsibility for this thrall he’d made. Besides, it wasn’t so bad. All he had to do to make David happy was sit leaning against the box so his elbow was brushing David’s ankle.

There had been a lot of trite shit about how every thrall was different and every thrall had different needs and had overall been pretty unhelpful. The main things he’d gotten were that it wasn’t unusual for a thrall to call their sire ‘master’ (or ‘mistress’) and the main thing all thralls required was affection, both of which sucked. Well, the master thing didn’t suck that much, it was just kinda creepy, but the affection thing was bullshit. It said the amount of affection a thrall needs depends on the thrall, but David would absolutely be the one to need constant affection, so they would have to, like,  _ cuddle _ and shit like that, which, thinking about cuddling with David made Max’s ears turn red, but that definitely didn’t mean anything. Definitely not.

Max turned his head slightly as someone sat down next to him. It was Neil. Max was about to ask him what was up when he realized that Neil wasn’t looking so good. His skin was sallow and his eyes were sunken and he looked exhausted.

“Hey, you okay?” Max asked, mildly concerned, “You don’t look so hot.” Neil sniffed once, rubbing his eyes.

“I’m...feeling under the weather,” he said, sounding as exhausted as he looked.

“Oh, uh...that sucks,” Max said.

“Are you alright, Neil?” David asked, having been paying attention to Max rather than the swimming campers.

“I’m fine,” Neil stared out over the water. This was good enough for David, who went back to staring at Max with thinly veiled adoration. Max and Neil made some smalltalk, Neil not too sick to wisecrack. After about an hour, Dolf went back inside to rest, and David looked hopefully at Max, who stared straight ahead, not acknowledging him. He was not calling David a ‘good boy’ in front of Neil. After a few minutes, he did, however,  reach over and give David’s shoe a little pat, which pleased David immensely.

Gwen was in the water today, wearing a decently modest red bikini. She looked good, and Max had caught David admiring her while she was looking elsewhere, which Max was glad of, actually. Max was glad that David could admire someone other than him. He had read that it was normal for thralls to hyper-fixate on their sire for a few days, but they would return to a somewhat more appropriate level of devotion before long.

“Nerris!” David suddenly called, leaning forward, “Leave Space Kid alone!” Max realized that David hadn’t been staring at him. A little knot of anxiety in his chest that he hadn’t realized was there started to loosen. David was still going to be David. There was a time when the thought would have pissed him off, but now he felt only relief. David settled back into his chair, satisfied that Nerris was no longer throwing ‘magic missiles’ at the ‘sea monster’. 

Neil made a quiet noise of pain and Max suddenly remembered he was there, turning his head. Neil was sweating like crazy and was sitting with his head between his knees.

“Dude, are you gonna be sick?” Max asked. Did  _ Neil _ have food poisoning now? But, to be honest, Max didn’t know how they weren’t all constantly sick with food poisoning from how shit the food here was. Neil shook his head, “You sure?” Neil nodded.

“Neil, you alright, buddy?” David leaned over the arm of the chair. Neil nodded again.

“Gimme. A minute.” he grunted, squeezing his eyes shut. Then he groaned and sagged, slowly pushing himself up, “It comes in waves,” he said. Max and David looked at each other.

“Well,” David laughed uncomfortably as Max scooted further away from Neil, “Let’s hope it’s not spreading.”

* * *

  
  
  


If it was spreading, it didn’t spread far. The only other thing out of the ordinary that day (aside from Dolf, who was feeling much better, but still weak) was Nikki, who was more subdued than normal, admitting to a dull ache in her limbs and back that just wouldn’t go away.

“If they’re sick, I am  _ not _ staying with them. I  _ am _ running tonight,” Gwen told David. David laughed awkwardly.

“Oh! That’s right! It’s the half, uh, that’s tonight, isn’t it?” he said a little too brightly, “I’d completely forgotten! Well, I, uh, I hope you guys have fun!” he added. Gwen briefly looked at him askance, but didn’t say anything. When David’s eyes went straight to Neil as he spoke, it didn’t occur to her that he might actually be looking at Max.

Nikki’s aches eased off as the afternoon went on, but Neil’s pain only got worse. He stayed in his and Max’s tent most of the time, curled up on his cot with a miserable expression. He didn’t sit around the campfire with the others, so he didn’t get to see the thinly veiled horror and disgust in Max’s eyes as he noticed how energetic and excited Nerris, Ered, and Preston seemed.

Max left early, returning to the tents just in time to see Neil stumble off into the woods.

“Neil?” he called, hesitating. Should he go after him? What if he was sick and collapsed in the woods somewhere? Or fell and hit his head on a rock? Ah, shit, Max had to go after him, didn’t he? “Neil!” Max called as he trudged after his friend. Being out on the waxing half-moon made him antsy. He knew that he was safe in his human form and mongrels wouldn’t attack a human kid, but the knowledge that they were out there made his skin crawl, “Neil!” he said again, and he heard a quiet moan. Neil was about ten feet away, hunched over, holding himself up against a tree, breathing heavily, “Dude, what are you doing?” Max walked towards him.

“Stay back!” Neil gasped, and Max stopped, “It’s...happening....” he was struggling to speak.

“Dude, what’s happening? Are you gonna puke?” Max took another step forward, “If you’re gonna hurl, at least come do it on David or something,” he said. Neil mumbled something Max couldn’t make out, but it didn’t sound very kind, “Neil-”

“Fuck!” Neil choked, and there was a sickening crunching sound that made Max jerk back.

“What the fuck?” there was another crunching noise and Max watched the hand gripping the tree contort, fingers stretching and twisting in unnatural directions. Then, abruptly, it grew and warped in shape, fingers shrinking with a horrid  _ slithering _ sound, nails growing and thickening as Neil made a muffled noise of agony. Max jerked backwards with a sound of shock and disgust, just as thick hair sprouted on the back of Neil’s hand and up his arm. As he watched the hair spread, something clicked inside his head. This was a transformation. Neil was transforming into a werewolf. Max stared in open-mouthed revulsion at the sight of the sickening physical transformation happening right in front of him. Neil opened his mouth in what was obviously a scream, but all that came out was a gurgle. Max was frozen in panic and horror at what he was seeing.

“Max?” David’s voice in the distance snapped Max out of his trance and he jerked further away from Neil, turning back towards camp.

“David! David!” Max hissed, trying not to be too loud.

“Max? Is something wrong?” the approaching footsteps sped up and a flashlight beam fell between Max and Neil.

“It’s Neil, he’s-” Max didn’t quite have words for what was happening, and David approached them quickly, flashlight beam bobbing, “He’s changing. He’s doing the, the thing,” Max said, and David stopped as he finally caught sight of Neil, shining his flashlight on him, who had collapsed to the ground and was convulsing. Neil also now had one very large dog paw instead of a hand, and the same thing seemed to be happening to the other one.

“Oh no! Oh! He’s, he’s having his first-! Oh no, ohhhh!” David covered his mouth, turning to look back towards camp, “And Gwen and the others already-oh, oh no,” he said, voice turning sympathetic, “I’ve never- I mean, not on my own,” anxiety and sympathy warred on his face.

“So, what, this is just normal?!?” Max struggled to keep his voice down.

“No, no, well, just the first time,” David said distractedly, handing Max the flashlight and moving to Neil’s side and kneeling over him, “Come help me get his shirt off, it’s easier with less clothes,” David said, shifting into Responsible-Camp-Counselor mode, “Neil, buddy, I just need you to keep breathing, alright?” he said softly to the writhing, transforming boy on the ground as Max moved reluctantly closer, “Just keep breathing, in and out, as deep as you can,” David said soothingly. Neil wheezed four or five times in a row, which seemed to be an attempt to comply. He was able to lift his arms just enough that they could get his shirt off. His other hand was beginning to transform, even slower than the first and just as painful.

“Holy shit. Holy shit. Holy shit. Holy shit.” Max whispered, barely audible. David made a noise of displeasure that was almost lost to Neil’s grunting and wheezing.

“I’ve seen this happen a few times, but never like this,” he said, frowning as he checked Neil’s (untransformed) feet, “More of him should be changing at the same time. I don’t know what to do for him.” Max was pointing the flashlight at the massive brown-furred paw on his friend’s left hand. That looked nothing like the hairy wolfman claws Max had always imagined. Wait...were werewolves  _ actual wolves _ ? “Oh, should I...? Um, um, Max, stay here,” David dashed off.

“David!” Max yelled, but David was already gone. Max looked back at Neil, who now had two dog (wolf?) paws, and the fur was creeping up his arms at a snail’s pace. Max could do nothing but watch as Neil’s ears began to slide up the sides of his head with the most sickening noise as they changed shape. Neil’s eyes were rolled back into his head, not transformed yet, and he’d stopped shaking as hard, but he was still groaning and grunting in pain. Max squatted down next to him, patting him very lightly between the shoulder blades, not sure what else to do. It was getting pretty dark, the single flashlight only doing so much to illuminate the dark forest. Max glanced over his shoulder in the direction David had gone. Hopefully no one would come to investigate the ruckus. Max didn’t want to deal with that.

Max didn’t have to wait long before David came running back, out of breath and holding what looked like a massive dog whistle.

“They told me this was only for emergencies, but...” David looked down at Neil, who had two large dog ears on his head and twisted, distorted skin where his ears had been. His face was streaked with tears.

“I’d say this is a pretty big fuckin’ emergency,” Max snapped. David hesitated slightly.

“Max, maybe you...should go back,” an odd expression crossed his face, as if he were remembering something, “Once I blow this, the pack will be here soon,” Max blanched at the idea of  _ multiple _ werewolves being anywhere near him. Neil had gone still on the ground and was breathing heavily. Max got the feeling that the nightmare wasn’t over for him yet, “You should...you should go back to my cabin. I’ll be there once the pack comes. Gwen is gonna be so mad at me,” he said under his breath. Max didn’t need to be told twice, sparing one last glance at his friend lying on the ground with fur up his arms and paws for hands, then fled back to the safety of David’s cabin.

* * *

  
  
  


Max waited for nearly an hour, pacing the length of the small cabin in agitation. He couldn’t get the image of Neil’s writhing body and twisting, contorting hands out of his head. That was one of the few things in a long while that had actually, legitimately scared him. He shuddered at the thought of Neil’s ears slowly sliding up the sides of his head. That was fucked. This whole thing was fucked. He shuddered again as he thought of a whole group of werewolves (and not wolfman werewolves, but actual  _ wolf _ werewolves) swarming the place where he’d been with David and Neil. He jumped slightly when the door opened.

“What took so long?” he demanded. David slipped in, looking exhausted and dirty, like he’d been rolling around on the ground. He rubbed his eyes.

“Gwen was mad that I used the emergency whistle for a transformation,” David rubbed his elbow gingerly, and Max saw where a bruise was starting to form on his forearm, “She knocked me over,” he added, walking past Max, opening his dresser and shedding his shirt as he got out a clean one. Max stared at his toned back and the two fading bites on his side and the one on his shoulder. Max had the sudden urge to run his fingers over the skin on David’s back, to feel his muscles and trace shapes between his freckles. He watched, silently, as David put the new, clean shirt on, leaning down to pick the other one up, tossing it into the small hamper behind his bed, “But I think she was kinda glad I did,” David continued, and it took Max a second to realize what he was talking about, “No young werewolf should have to go through that alone,” David took his belt off and toed off his boots, putting them aside. He took off his socks and tossed them in the hamper, “But it’s probably good for the other kids to watch someone go through their first transformation. Gwen told me she saw at least one when we were campers and she-”

“Wait, we?” Max asked, and David stopped, turning to look at him.

“Hmm?”

“Wait, did Gwen go to camp here?” this was news to Max. He’d always thought Gwen was just the poor, overqualified Millennial who’d chosen this shithole over unemployment, not a Camp Campbell veteran like David.

“Yep! Same years as me!” David said sunnily. The vague pity Max had always felt for Gwen increased, “She was one of the first members of the Camp Campbell pack! That was back when Mr. Campbell was around more often and he led the pack,” he added. Max’s brow furrowed as David walked past him and sat on the edge of the bed. Max opened his mouth to ask a question, then yelped as David snagged him by his waist and pulled him into his lap.

“What the fuck?” he snapped, but he was already wrapped up in David’s ridiculously long arms with David’s face buried in his hair. David made a happy, muffled noise.

“Max-smell,” he sighed happily. Max felt his body heating up with anger, embarrassment, and something else, but he did nothing, just sitting and letting David cuddle him and mumble stupid, affectionate things. You were supposed to give thralls affection, right? Well, he’d just let David do this and hopefully that would be good enough. He rested his head on David’s shoulder, closing his eyes. Yeah, he’d just let David do this. Max sighed into David’s shoulder as he felt David’s fingers move through his hair. Just for a little while. Max sighed and cuddled closer.

“Good boy, David,” Max said softly, then regretted it when David squeezed him so tightly he thought his ribs might break. David made a noise into Max’s hair like a very small squeal, and Max struggled not to smile. Idiot. “Good boy,” he said again, “ _ My _ good boy,” he added, feeling his face warm up. He yelped quietly when David flopped onto his side, but he just curled up happily on the bed, holding Max to his chest like a teddybear. 

Max thought about Mr. Honeynuts, wondering if he could go and grab him and come back. He still wasn’t great at sleeping without him. Then he thought of Neil writhing and screaming as his body warped and transformed and of all the other mongrels now gathered around Neil, and he shuddered. No, he’d slept without Mr. Honeynuts before, and he’d do it again. He said ‘good boy’ a few more times, just to hear David make those happy little noises.

Just then, Max heard multiple howls, much closer than he would have liked, and he tensed up. He gritted his teeth as the howls grew louder and closer. Max pressed closer to David, shuddering when he heard more howls.

“Max? What’s wrong?” David mumbled into his hair. 

“Can’t you hear that?” Max said quietly, just as the howls got terrifyingly close.

“Hear what?” David asked, stroking his hair.

“The fucking- can’t you hear them howling?” Max hissed, going rigid as he suddenly felt the presence of multiple werewolves outside the cabin, “Shitting Christ they’re right outside,” he hissed, gripping David tightly. There was a thump at the door that made him flinch. David gently pried him off, looking as unhappy about having to stop cuddling as Max felt. There was another thump at the door.

“Stay here,” David said, expression serious, covering Max up with the blanket before going to the door, cracking it open, “Oh, hey guys,” he slipped out, shutting the door behind him, muffling his voice, “Did you need me for something?” he paused, “Oh! Neil! You finished! Congrats, buddy!” David said excitedly. There was a soft ‘whuff’ that made Max shudder, “But what do you need me for?....what’s.....oh! Did you bring this for Max? I know he’ll appreciate it.”

“Whuff.”

“What, Max? Max is fine. He’s still kind of shaken up, but he’s doing alright,” David paused for several long seconds, “He’s probably going to stay with me in my cabin tonight, but I know he’ll appreciate this...do you guys need anything else?” he paused, “Okay, alright, good. I’ll go ahead and take this to Max. Have fun you guys!” he added, letting himself back in and closing the door, “...I think they’re gone,” he said in a hushed voice. Max, no longer overwhelmed by the primal terror of being surrounded by a pack of mongrels, knew that they were, “Well, Neil finished transforming! That means he shouldn’t have any more trouble. Oh! And he brought you this,” David extended what he was holding. It was Mr. Honeynuts. Max jerked upright on the bed, “I don’t think it’s too, uh, slobbery,” David said as he approached the bed, but Max snatched the bear away from him, hugging it to his chest, “We shouldn’t have to worry about them anymore tonight,” David added as he sat down next to Max, “Also, are you, uh, thirsty?” he sounded a little hopeful.

“...a little,” Max was actually very thirsty, but he’d been distracted by the fear of the pack that had been just outside.

“Where do you want to drink from? My neck?” David asked, and it hit Max for maybe the hundredth time how bizarre and unreal it was for his idiotically chipper camp counselor to casually offer Max his neck to feed from like it was nothing. Max thought about the question. It was hard to remember that he could ask literally anything of David and David would do his very best to comply.

“Just your, uh, shoulder,” Max shrugged. He’d heard somewhere that thigh blood was really sweet, but he didn’t feel like dealing with the boner David probably popped every time Max bit him. Max watched David shed his shirt again and offered the shoulder that already had several fading bites on it. Max shifted into his night form and crawled into David’s lap. He ran his fingers through the dusting of red hair on David’s chest, and David shivered, cheeks warm. Max said nothing as his fangs extended, and he sank them into the meat of David’s shoulder and David shivered again, wrapping his arms around Max. He stroked Max’s hair as Max fed on him, and David idly wondered if there was anything in the world that could feel as good and right and perfect as this.

“Oh Max,” he sighed, and Max grunted softly. David was starting to feel a little dizzy as Max pulled away and licked the bite. Then Max bit his own wrist, bringing black vampire blood to the surface, and offered it to David, who happily lapped at the blood until Max took his wrist back and licked the bite closed. Their eyes met, and they both wiped their blood from the other’s mouth, “Max, I love you so much,” David whispered with absolute sincerity. Max tensed up, looking nervous and surly, “You don’t have to say anything,” David assured him, pulling him into a tight hug. So Max didn’t say anything; he just sat there and let David hug him, eyes burning. When was the last time he’d heard someone say that to him? He couldn’t remember.

‘ _ You know he doesn’t mean it. He can’t mean it. You made him like this. Sure, he gave a shit about you before because that’s the kind of idiot he is, but he wouldn’t say that he  _ loves _ you if he wasn’t a thrall. No one would  _ love _ you unless they had to. You know that _ ,’ that cruel little voice whispered. Max said nothing, resting his head on David’s shoulder, staring at Mr. Honeynuts, who sat against David’s pillow.

“Let’s go to bed, okay?” David whispered, “We have Book-Binding Camp tomorrow,” Max grunted his agreement, grabbing Mr. Honeynuts as they both laid down, and David pulled the blanket up over them. He held his bear tightly and let David hold him the same way, face buried in Max’s hair.

‘ _ Guess that’s the real reason to have a thrall, huh? You have someone you can force to love you, _ ’ that little voice said. Max laid awake for a long time, feeling David snuffle softly into his hair. Yeah. That was a pretty decent reason to have a thrall.

* * *

  
  
  


_ Childish screams rang out as the wolves swarmed the tiny figure, snarling loudly. David struggled and cried out, reaching for his master, but something was holding him down, not letting him move or get closer. Horrible screams and the tearing of flesh filled the air as David struggled and screamed. _

_ “NO!! NO!! NO!! NO!!-” _

“-no,” David whispered as he woke with a start. He looked down. Max was still fast asleep, curled into a fetal position around his teddybear. David relaxed. What a horrible dream. But nothing like that was going to happen to Max. David would protect Max with his life, and none of the werewolves would get a chance to do something like that. Besides, Gwen would never hurt one of their campers, even a vampire. David was very sure of that.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> lmao this is good foreshadowing because it's not actually foreshadowing what you guys think it's foreshadowing and knowing what it's actually foreshadowing is hysterical


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys, sorry this took so long, I've been sick and also I'm a lazy piece of shit so, you know. The usual.  
> This is a little bit of an interlude chapter. I'm laying the foundation for some stuff that hopefully I'll get to soon.

Gwen snagged David before breakfast.

“How is Max taking it?” she asked seriously. He blinked owlishly at her.

“Wh-What?”

“He just saw his best friend turn into a werewolf,  _ moron _ . How is he handling it?” she crossed her arms under her breasts.

“Oh, he’s, uh, okay. He was kinda freaked out, but he’s doing fine now. I mean, yeah, he was kinda scared last night, but he’s doing better, uh, yeah, he’s fine,” David said awkwardly. She narrowed her eyes at him and he flushed, “He’s, well, I mean, you know Max. He’s, uh, he’s not exactly the freaking out type,” Gwen seemed more willing to accept this.

“Yeah. If he was freaked out, he wouldn’t talk about it,” she nodded, “I’ll try talking to him, but I mean, he’s definitely just gonna brush me off with some smartass remark,” she rolled her eyes, noting that the idea of her talking to Max seemed to make David even more nervous.

“He’s, he’ll be fine. I’m sure he’ll talk about it some with Neil and, uh, you know, but, like, I mean, if you really  _ want _ to talk to him about it, then, uh, be my guest, I just, uh, you know, don’t, uh, feel like you  _ have _ to if you don’t want to, I mean, I don’t have anything  _ against _ you talking to him about it, I was just, uh, you know, kinda concerned that, I mean, not  _ concerned _ concerned, I just, uh...” David babbled, getting more and more nervous as Gwen narrowed her eyes at him.

“David,” she said.

“Yes?” he asked in a small, high voice.

“Stop talking.”

“Okay,” he said meekly, and he did. She watched him walk away through narrowed eyes. Whatever he wasn’t telling her, she’d weasel it out of him. He was terrible at lying.

* * *

  
  


“Do you need something?” Max asked pointedly, tone less than kind. Gwen crossed her arms at him.

“You watched your friend turn into a werewolf last night. Let’s talk about that,” she said.

“Or, we could, like,  _ not _ talk about that,” Max shoved his hands into his hoodie.

“I just need to know that you’re okay.”

“Why do you care?” he snapped.

“Because it’s my job to care, you little shit,” she snapped back. They glared at each other for several seconds before Max broke eye contact.

“It’s over and I’m fine,” he said flatly, watching Harrison try to perform an ‘is this your card?’ trick with Ered, who was entirely uninterested in both the cards and the magician holding them.

“So you’re just fine suddenly knowing that werewolves exist and that you’re sharing a tent with one?” she asked, unconvinced, and Max shrugged.

“It was pretty fucked up when his fingers started twisting and shrinking and shit, but whatever,” he said. Harrison was now trying to convince her to let him make her skateboard disappear, but Ered knew better, having seen too many things disappear in Harrison’s gloved hands and never reappear. Max turned back and found Gwen watching him through narrowed eyes, like he was a mystery she just couldn’t quite unravel. Then she grunted and turned away. Giving that much of a shit was above her paygrade.

“Just as long as you’re not freaking out about it,” she said. Max watched her go. He’d have to be careful. He couldn’t just keep doing whatever. Unlike David, Gwen wasn’t completely oblivious. But fortunately for Max, she wasn’t paid enough to start a vampire witchhunt on a bunch of kids. Hopefully.

* * *

  
  
  


Book-binding camp went about as well as expected. It was obvious (at least to Gwen) that something was bothering David, but he was being uncharacteristically tight-lipped about it. Caring about David was a little bit outside the job description. Gwen supposed she considered him a friend, of sorts. He was a hopeless idiot who got way too excited about every goddamn thing, but it was rare to find someone as genuine as David, or as big-hearted. If Gwen was being honest, she felt a little bit responsible for him, after what had happened.

She downed her entire mug of coffee and, as she’d taught herself, turned her mind away from painful memories. She thought about Max, seemingly unaffected by being abruptly confronted with the existence of werewolves. He was definitely more shaken than he was letting on. He had to be. When David had found out, he’d....well, that was different. Gwen poured herself more coffee, drinking it black. Sometimes, she envied David. Life seemed to be a lot simpler for him. Other times, she remembered things that she’d watched David endure, and she envied him a little less.

Last night, during the ragtag pack’s run, Nerris had excitedly asked if Gwen thought that they were more likely to catch a leech now that they had a bigger pack. Gwen was willing to admit that she could have reacted better, but the question had brought those memories to the forefront, the memory of two childish screams, one of pain and fear and the other of unspeakable horror.

Fortunately for her, the newest addition to the pack wasn’t very keen on leech-hunting either. Neil had said something about ‘barbaric traditions’ and ‘archaic prejudices’ that Gwen had been too caught up in the past to catch. The other pups were definitely not as forward-thinking as Neil, and Gwen cut that argument off before it turned into a brawl, telling them that no leech was stupid enough to venture anywhere near Camp Campbell so she doubted they’d ever catch one. Neil had gone oddly quiet after that.

“Alright, kids! Time to split off into your camps!” David announced cheerfully. Max was standing next to him, hands shoved into his hoodie, looking moody as usual. David said something to Max that Gwen couldn’t hear at this distance. Max shrugged in response, making David beam. David started off jauntily towards the mess hall, and Max followed silently. Keeping Max where David could keep an eye on him? Gwen raised her eyebrows. That was actually a really good idea, if it worked. Max definitely needed more attention after last night, and if he’d let David give it to him then all the better, because it meant Gwen didn’t have to worry about it.

David let himself and Max into the empty mess hall, and Gwen finished her coffee. If David had Max, then she should go keep an eye on the other gremlins. She didn’t mind. She’d rather be in charge of every other brat in this camp than have to deal with that little shit. David was a saint.

* * *

  
  


Tucked away in the small kitchen, with a few minutes to themselves, Max was ‘letting’ David cuddle him. This involved Max standing still and letting David kneel down and hug him tightly, pressing kisses into his hair and whispering about how wonderful Max was and how much David loved him. Max wondered, vaguely, if other people’s thralls did things like this, or if David was just this cuddly. He closed his eyes and rested his head on David’s chest. Yeah, he’d just...sit here and let David do this. This was what David wanted, so Max would let him do it.

Not that Max enjoyed it or anything. Definitely not. It wasn’t like it felt nice to have someone wrap their arms around him, or like he enjoyed hearing David talk about how much he loved him or anything like that. No way. Max didn’t care at all. This was entirely for David’s benefit. If Max was gripping David’s vest really tightly, then that was just a coincidence, and if he pressed his face into David’s shoulder, that didn’t mean anything either.

Above him, David was blissfully happy. He knew they didn’t have long to themselves, so he had to make the most of the time they had. Just being able to hold Max in his arms was absolutely incredible. He couldn’t get enough of it, couldn’t get enough of the smell of Max’s hair or the warmth of his small body. He was so filled with joy and love that it was almost painful, but he didn’t mind. Nothing had ever made him feel this way before.

“Oh Max, Max, Max,” he whispered, “I’m so lucky to have you, I’m so lucky I get to be your thrall. I wouldn’t trade anything in the world for this, just getting to hold you and tell you how much I love you. Because I do, oh goodness, I do. I do love you so much, Max. You’re such a special, wonderful boy. I can’t even tell you how precious you are, oh Max, Max...” he kissed Max’s hair, “Max, you mean the world to me...I wish we could stay like this forever...precious boy...oh Max...oh  _ Max _ ,” he whispered fervently, pressing several kisses to his temple. 

Without any prompting, the memory of that terrible dream came to the forefront of David’s mind. Childish screams and gruesome ripping noises. He stilled, lips still pressed to Max’s temple. That was just  ~~_ “NO!! NO!! NO!! NO!!” _ ~~ a bad dream. He needed to just forget about it. He’d never let that happen to Max. David’s fingers moved slowly, thoughtfully, through Max’s hair, lips ghosting butterfly kisses to his temple. He’d never let anything happen to Max. He heard Max take a ragged breath in, then Max was pulling away from him, shoving at his chest, and David reluctantly let go of him, “Max?”

“That’s enough. Someone might come looking for us,” Max said gruffly. David thought they still had plenty of time, but he didn’t want to question Max, so he just nodded.

“Okay. What should we do now?” he asked.

“Whatever you have planned, Camp Man,” Max said, and David smiled.

“Right. Let’s go check on Gwen,” he said. As he turned away, he saw Max roughly wiping his eyes on his sleeve, but David didn’t comment on it.

 

* * *

  
  


Halfway through the afternoon, Max ditched David and palled around with Nikki and Neil for a while. Nikki was more subdued than usual, complaining of the same aching in her arms and legs as she had the previous day. Both Max and Neil were eyeing her warily and exchanging Looks.

“ _ She a mongrel too? _ ” Max mouthed and pointed while Nikki was absorbed with poking a concerningly large anthill she’d found. Neil made a face, but nodded, not in a good position to explain werewolf genealogy and trait recurrence while whispering behind Nikki’s back.

In another part of the camp, David was sweating bullets and talking about how they needed to remake the chart for the shower and toilet cleaning schedule (the original had been soaked with olive oil during Space Kid’s most recent attempt at achieving spaceflight) so they could figure out who was next on the rotation in a high, nervous voice while Gwen needled him on what had been bothering him.

“So there should, uh, be some, uh, chart paper in here,” David said, rummaging through the closet behind the mess hall.

“You’re going to tell me eventually,” Gwen said, arms crossed over her chest.

“So, um, here we go,” David pulled out the small stack of chart paper, fumbling with the black marker he’d tucked into his vest pocket, putting both down on the small table next to the goopy remains of the last cleaning schedule.

“I haven’t seen you this twitchy since the Critic Committee came,” she added.

“It, um, it looks like...like N-Nerris, Preston, and Harrison are next in the order,” David stammered a little over his own lie, knowing Gwen wouldn’t check after him. Neil, Nikki, and Max were up next to clean the showers and toilets, but David didn’t want Max to have to do that kind of dirty work. He wouldn’t want calluses to form on Max’s precious little hands. The tip of the marker hovered above the paper as David’s face and ears warmed at the memory of Max’s small, brown hands resting lightly on David’s bare chest, and David suddenly felt a little short of breath.

“I know you, David, and you’re going to be weird until you talk about it, so just go ahead and spill it,” Gwen’s voice brought him out of his flustered reverie.

“I, uh...” David neatly printed the children’s names in the boxes. Think, David, think. She’s not going to let up until you tell her something, “I...I had...I had this bad dream last night. That’s all,” David kept his eyes on the paper. That was technically the truth.

“A dream?” Gwen wasn’t buying it.

“It...it was probably because of s-something Max said last night, I mean, while he was still

upset about...everything,” David swallowed audibly, finishing the chart and recapping the marker, eyes flickering around, “He, uh...he made a comment about the, uh, the pack, um, getting hungry and eating him,” David lied, “And, I mean, I, uh, I obviously told him that that would never happen, you guys would never do something like that, but, uh, you know, dreams are weird,” he laughed awkwardly, “And I had a dream that...that you guys were attacking him. And, and you...you were just swarming him, I...I couldn’t even see him,” David’s voice turned quiet and solemn with the memory, “And I could hear him screaming, but I couldn’t get to him. Something was pinning me down, and I couldn’t move, and I was crying out to you, to him, begging you to stop, but...you wouldn’t. So I just...watched as you tore him apart,” David’s expression was reflective, and an old, weary sort of sadness lingered in his eyes.  ~~ “ _ NO!! STOP!! STOP!! YOU’RE HURTING HIM!! STOP, PLEASE!! PLEASE!! NO!!” _ ~~  It took David a few seconds to realize that Gwen had gone completely silent. He turned to look at her. The severity of her expression took him a little off-guard. Her mouth was tight and pinched, her eyes narrowed. She looked almost...angry. No, not angry. It was some other emotion that David couldn’t quite put his finger on. Scared? Maybe, but that still didn’t seem right, “Gwen?” he asked.

“Are you sure it was Max? In your dream,” she asked, voice tight and nervous. David blinked a few times.

“I...I’m not sure who else it would have been. It was a child and it was....I’m pretty sure it was Max. But I know you guys would never do that,” he added, unnerved by the intensity of her stare. She looked away, and he felt...relieved, somehow.

“Finish the chart,” she told him, walking out of the mess hall. He watched her go, feeling a little unsettled and self-conscious as he put the capped marker back into his vest. That was odd.

* * *

  
  
  


Gwen’s odd behavior was the last thing on his mind as he had to settle another spat between Harrison and Nerris. He was just about at his wits’ end with them when he caught sight of Max over their heads. For a split second, David couldn’t breathe, just looking at Max. Then he dragged his eyes away, pretending to listen to the two arguing children in front of him, cheeks warm. His eyes flickered back to Max, who was talking to Neil. David wet his lower lip, feeling a little short of breath. Was there anything else in the world that felt quite like this? David was sure there wasn’t.

“But  _ you said _ -!!” and the two Magic Campers in front of him started on another tirade against each other, briefly distracting him. His eyes went between them, then back to Max, who was standing with his hands shoved into his hoodie, shoulders hunched. David didn’t want to deal with this, he wanted to be with Max. But, to be fair, that’s how he’d felt about everything the past week. The day-to-day buzz of Camp Campbell interested him less and less, which a small part of David was aware ought to alarm him, but he couldn’t bring himself to care about much of anything other than Max. Max had even brought this up to him. His  ~~ master ~~ dear, precious  ~~ he’s your master Davey, stop trying to avoid it ~~ precious, precious Max had....where was he going with this? David struggled to recall where he’d been going with that thought. Max had...no, that wasn’t it.

“David, are you even listening?” Harrison half-yelled.

“Yes, of course!” David said quickly. A short ways away, Nikki was trying to get Max and Neil to dare her to eat some of the ants from her anthill, but neither of them had any interest in watching her do that. Max was mostly just watching Nikki stop and rub her arms or legs with a frown on her face every few minutes, and exchanging Looks with Neil. Max had gone from slightly-suspicious to very-sure that she was about to turn into a werewolf too. Fuck. His lip curled. He was completely fucking surrounded by mongrels, and now there would be more than ever.

Max understood that his luck was going to run out. He’d had a decent excuse to be in David’s cabin last night, and maybe again tonight, but saying he wanted to sleep with David because he was freaked out by werewolves wasn’t going to cut it much longer. He would have to start skipping nights, the thought of which put him in a particularly foul mood. It wasn’t as much the idea of skipping feedings that bothered him, it was getting to spend one on one time with David and have David cuddle him while saying stupid, sappy shit. Not that Max liked cuddling with David or anything. Of course not. He didn’t enjoy how it felt to have David’s strong, slim arms wrapped around him or the cute noises David made when he nuzzled Max’s hair or the faint, musky, masculine pine scent of David’s clothes. He was just doing the cuddling for David’s benefit. Entirely for David’s benefit. Max sniffed once. He might try glutting himself on David tonight, but that would require food and drink on hand for David afterwards, unless Max wanted to explain to the police why David’s corpse had way less blood than it should. If Max glutted, he’d be able to skip a few nights, but that would leave him needing to feed again right on the full moon, which was risky business. Maybe he’d wait to glut. He’d never glutted before, he’d only heard about it in passing, but he wanted to try it. It was probably just like eating way too much regular food and being overfull.

“Guys, I found another anthill!” Nikki said excitedly, and Neil dutifully walked over and viewed the anthill from a safe distance. His eyes went to Max. He was worried about Max. How was Max going to keep his relationship (hah) with David under wraps with so many werewolves running around camp? If Neil could distract the pack for a little while, he would, but he was the newest addition to the pack, so he didn’t get much say. It wasn’t much of a pack anyway, just a bunch of pups and a bored, overworked Alpha.

Honestly, Neil wasn’t sure what he’d do if Max was found out. Would he be brave enough to put himself between Max and the pack, to defend his friend, or would he just stand by and watch while the little vampire was massacred? The thought made him sick.

“Hey Neil, do you dare me to shove these up my nose?” Nikki asked excitedly, showing several massive black ants on a stick, which were larger than Neil had thought ants got in North America.

“Ugh, no, Nikki, don’t do that,” he said, and she pouted at him.

“Come ooooon,” she stamped her foot, then winced in pain, looking down at her leg.

“You okay?” Neil asked, suspecting more and more that Nikki was going through something like he’d gone through the previous day. That entire ordeal had been horrible and exhausting, but it was over now, and when the moon rose, Neil would be able to shift more or less painlessly. If Nikki had her first shift tonight, that would be further distraction from Max and David, but after that...

“Pfft, I’m fine,” she brushed him off, now suitably distracted from the ants. Neil glanced back at Max, who was watching David have a mostly one-sided conversation with Gwen. Max was scowling, but his eyes were soft. Max and David, what an odd pair they made. As a thrall, David was obviously very attached to Max, but could Max reciprocate at all? Was Max even capable of forming that type of attachment to another person? Neil wasn’t sure, but he’d never seen Max look at anything the way he was watching David right now. Max seemed to realize he was staring and jerked away with an even heavier scowl, ears red.

“Whatever,” Max mumbled aloud, shoving his hands in his hoodie and hunching his shoulders. Neil glanced back at David, who had taken Gwen checking her phone as an opportunity to look at Max with a dopey expression. Neil shook his head. Those two were ridiculous, and there was no way this was sustainable.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah, okay, my foreshadowing isn't that subtle. You guys can probably guess where I'm going with this.  
> Next chapter will have some more of other characters and we'll see more from the werewolves. Possibly more cuddling. We'll see. :3c


End file.
